


It is (not) just a game!?

by Feuchen



Series: My Final Haikyuu Quest - Magical World - Series [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Final Haikyuu Quest, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 37,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22388713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feuchen/pseuds/Feuchen
Summary: A magical force from another world ensures that Shouyou is pulled away from the real world and finds himself in a completely strange environment.In addition, his friend suddenly appears at his side as a ghost.Why did he end up in this world? How did it happen and how can he and Kenma get back?
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kozume Kenma, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: My Final Haikyuu Quest - Magical World - Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1763710
Comments: 1
Kudos: 56





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> it is a bit of my version of a fhq au? <3

He was dizzy.  
His eyes blurred and he could hardly see the other side of the net.  
Why was he so dizzy?  
Why now?  
He couldn’t get sick now!  
This game was important. He couldn’t fail. He wasn‘t allowed to ...!  
He heard voices, but couldn‘t identify where they came from or who was speaking to him there.  
He only suspected that it was his teammates and friends, but he saw nothing at all except a blurry picture in front of him.  
He felt a hand on his forehead and blinked irritated when he looked directly into two feline, golden brown eyes.  
Startled, he slid back, bumped his head behind him, and screamed.  
"Are you feeling better, Shouyou?"  
He blinked a few times and nodded slowly. Kenma. Why was the setter from Nekoma here with him?  
Where was he at all?  
"Where am I?" He asked, touching his head. He ignored the pain from the collision. At least he wasn’t dizzy anymore.  
Oh, he had gotten dizzy. They had a match!  
He tried to jump up but was pushed back onto the bed by Kenma. "You shouldn’t get up."  
"But– but– I have to go back! The game- they- Karasuno needs me!" Shouyou said firmly, defending himself a little against Kenma, if only with half his strength. What could he do if he returned now?  
Somehow he still didn’t feel fit, even when he wasn’t dizzy anymore. He wouldn’t be allowed to play anyway.  
"Here," said Kenma, holding out a tablet to run the game on.  
Shouyou blinked in surprise at his friend, then nodded and just sat up, noticing Kenma sitting on the bed next to him and they watching the game together.  
Why did that have to happen?  
Why did he have to get sick?  
Why couldn’t he do anything more than watch while his friends out there were fighting so they could play another round at the nationals?  
Why ...?  
He winced when he felt a sting in his head and the picture on the tablet distorted. What was that? Why could he only see this disturbance on it?  
"What is that?" Kenma asked, cocking his head and typing on the small screen.  
Shouyou shrugged, just touched his head again. He felt dizzy again, this time with a violent headache. What was that?  
"Shouyou? Shouyou!"  
Kenma’s voice came to him loudly, but he couldn’t respond. Everything blurred again around him.  
He reached for what he hoped was Kenma’s hand without being able to really see him.  
He just hoped that this dizziness would finally stop. But if Kenma was with him, nothing would happen, would it? His friend was taking care of him.  
He felt a warmth right there. That was nice. Kenma’s warmth felt good. It would be all right if he woke up again and found himself in the arms of his friend.


	2. Chapter 01

Shouyou opened his eyes, felt someone stroke his forehead with a washcloth. Kenma was no longer leaning over him. The other’s face was calm, his eyes looked a bit sluggish, and his hair lay a little on the other’s face as he straightened up a little and pulled the washcloth back with his hand.  
"Are you feeling better?"  
Shouyou looked at him a moment longer. The other wore a fabric jacket over his bare chest and plain beige trousers. His hair was a little longer than he knew it, but otherwise he reminded him of Ennoshita-san. Why was his senpai suddenly with him? Where was he here at all?  
As he thought about it, he looked around the little room. Next to him was a bowl of water from which it smelled of fresh herbs. He’d probably taken care of him with it, even if Shouyou didn’t know why or what had happened. "Where am I?"  
"In Karasuno Town," he said calmly and put the washcloth back in the bowl, "I found you unconscious outside and took you with me. By the way, my name is Ennoshita Chikara."  
Shouyou nodded a little understanding, even if he didn’t understand anything at all. Where exactly was he? Why was he suddenly in a city that was called by the name of his team? How did he get here? And what was his senpai doing here?  
Ennoshita-san grabbed the bowl casually and moved away from it. "Take a rest. Are you hungry?"  
As if on command, Shouyou’s stomach started to growl, and he turned his head away from the other’s face. "Uh, sorry, yes, if you can. By the way, my name is Hinata Shouyou."  
"I’ll be right back," said Ennoshita-san before he left the room and Shouyou was alone again.  
Where exactly was he here? What was Karasuno Town and how did he get there?  
"We are no longer in our world, Shouyou," he heard Kenma’s voice shortly afterwards, which made him a little startled. His head jerked towards the window, where a ghostly appearance of his friend was sitting on the windowsill and looking outside. What was Kenma doing here? Why did he look like a ghost?  
"Kenma? What ... what happened?", Shouyou asked in shock, "why do you look so ..."  
"I don’t know," Kenma interrupted, turning his head in his direction now, "but your teammate doesn’t seem to see me and I don’t think the others here either."  
"It’s all very strange," Shouyou murmured, cocking his head, "I mean, why did we end up here?"  
Kenma just shrugged, looked at him calmly, when Shouyou noticed how the door of the room was pushed open and Ennoshita-san came up to him, with a tray on which were bowls of fruit and something liquid.  
"For strengthening and some medicine," he said calmly and put the tablet on the next table, "where are you from?"  
Shouyou reached for a piece of fruit and bit into it, but then noticed how Ennoshita-san looked at him when he sat down on a chair next to him. He lowered his eyes thoughtfully. He could hardly tell where he came from because he probably wasn’t from this world. But what should he say then? Why was he here at all?  
"You don’t look like one of Oikawa’s demons," Ennoshita-san said, looking at him more intently, "rather than when you were attacked. But you had no injuries."  
Shouyou widened his eyes a little. Oikawa? What was Ennoshita-san talking about? "Demons?" He turned his head to the side and looked at Kenma’s ghostly appearance. Where exactly were they here?  
"Don’t worry, within Karasuno Town you are safe," replied Ennoshita-san calmly and smiled at him, "I will leave you alone for a while so that you can take care of yourself. Eat calmly and drink this medicine. It will do you good."  
Shouyou nodded and then watched him leave the room. Probably he really couldn’t see Kenma, but why was his friend with him as a ghost?  
Kenma came up to him shortly thereafter and sat on the edge of the bed while Shouyou reached for the medicine bowl and took a sip, even if he made a face. It was pretty bitter, but it probably helped him to feel better afterwards.  
"Can we stay here, Shouyou?" Kenma asked softly, "do you believe him?"  
Shouyou swallowed, sighed a little, and set the empty bowl down next to him. "I don‘t know. I mean, Ennoshita-san has always been nice to me and I cannot imagine that it is different here."  
"I’d look around a bit, but I can’t get any further from you," Kenma said, looking towards the window, "something keeps pulling me back to you, Shouyou."  
Shouyou looked back in surprise at his friend’s gaze. Somehow it was really strange. "We should have a look later and see what’s going on here." He yawned briefly and leaned back. "But I also think we can trust Ennoshita-san and stay here for now, Kenma."  
"Okay," Kenma replied calmly, "if you trust him, so will I."

–*–

The next time Shouyou woke up and opened his eyes, he noticed Sugawara-san - or at least he looked like his Senpai - sitting next to him and talking to Ennoshita-san.  
"What should we do with him, Suga-san?" Ennoshita-san asked, looking only at the other. They probably hadn’t noticed that Shouyou had woken up.  
"He could still be a spy, maybe not necessarily from Oikawa, but," Sugawara-san murmured, looking thoughtful, "I would like to discuss it with Yaku. But he’s still on the move."  
"Yaku-san," whispered Ennoshita-san and put a hand on his chin, "where is he right now?"  
"He left for Nekoma three days ago, I think he’ll be back soon," Sugawara-san said and sighed, turning his head to Shouyou and looking at him a little more surprised, "oh, you’re awake."  
Shouyou swallowed, nodded a little shyly. He hoped that Sugawara-san wasn‘t angry, that he had overheard the conversation between the two of them. "Don’t you believe me?"  
"It‘s not that," Sugawara-san replied, smiling softly at him. That was clearly his senpai, he had the same, gentle smile and that look that he just had to feel comfortable with. He was wearing a linen shirt and a bangle around his wrist from what looked a bit like straw, even if Shouyou couldn’t identify it exactly. Since he was sitting next to his bed, he could no longer see either. "Karasuno Town is a neutral area. But still we cannot risk being caught off guard from the inside. You have a strange aura, Hinata, so we’re not sure who you are."  
"I’m not a spy, frankly, I don’t know how I got here," Shouyou said directly, sitting up firmly, "actually ... this world is strange to me."  
" _Shouyou_ ," he heard Kenma then and blinked when he saw his friend’s ghostly figure. Should he not have said that?  
"What do you mean?" Sugawara-san asked, raising an eyebrow.  
Shouyou was about to reply when Ennoshita-san got ahead of him. "Suga-san, maybe it has to do with some magic."  
Sugawara-san nodded silently to himself. "I know ... I wish Yaku was here." He turned to Shouyou and looked at him a little more seriously. "You are not a spy for Oikawa? Can we trust you?"  
Shouyou swallowed, nodded firmly. "Yes! I would never lie to you!"  
"If so, don’t leave this room until Yaku is back in Karasuno," Sugawara-san said in a more than serious tone, "I want him to check on you. Chikara, can you take care of him a little?"  
"Of course, Suga-san," Ennoshita-san said, nodding to him.  
Shouyou swallowed, but nodded. If he could show them that they could trust him, he would wait.  
After his senpai left the room, he turned his head to Kenma, who was sitting on the edge of the bed next to him again and looking at him silently. "Sorry Kenma!"  
" _You trust them, don’t you?_ " Kenma replied calmly and a smile slowly played around his lips, " _I trust Yaku. If he should check you out, they can’t be that bad._ "


	3. Chapter 02

Shouyou sighed while lying in this bed with his arms crossed behind his head. It was probably only an hour or two since Sugawara-san and Ennoshita-san left him alone, but he was bored and knew he couldn’t get out. He wanted to explore this world and not get stuck in this room.  
However, he had promised Sugawara-san that he would stay here until Yaku appeared. In addition, his senpai had been creepy when he forced him to wait here. Sugawara-san may not have looked that way from the outside, but he could be absolutely scary.  
"Shouyou," Kenma murmured, leaning against the window and looking at him calmly.  
Oh yeah. Kenma was with him, of course, which didn’t really matter because his friend was only with him as a ghost. For whatever reason. "I’m bored, Kenma!"  
"You promised them that you would wait," Kenma said quietly, shrugging his shoulders, "after all, you want them to trust you."  
"I know, I know," Shouyou replied, swinging out of bed and stepping toward the window, at least watching the goings-on outside. At least he was feeling better and he was no longer dizzy. Ennoshita-san’s medicine must have worked.  
"And I really can’t go any further from you than the few yards," Kenma said and sighed.  
Shouyou nodded. It was also something that interested him. What exactly was Kenma about? Why couldn’t he really move away from him, apart from the fact that he was just a ghost?  
He shook his head. He didn’t want to worry about something where he wouldn’t find a solution anyway. He was bored and at least wanted to be able to explore this city.  
His eyes slid outside over the people who passed the apartment and the window. Some carried weapons, swords, axes and bows, while others wore only plain clothes and didn‘t look as if they were prepared for any kind of fighting.  
Shouyou cocked his head. Could he struggle with something here if he could move more freely? Where exactly was he here? Except that this city was apparently called Karasuno Town, he knew absolutely nothing about it. Or generally from this world. "I wonder what this is all about," Shouyou murmured, leaning on the windowsill, watching the goings-on.  
"It looks like an RPG," Kenma said, also looking outside beside him, "maybe we have to solve something to get ahead and come back to our world?"  
Shouyou blinked and turned his head a little to his friend. "You know about something like that. What do you think we have to do?"  
Kenma shrugged. "No idea. Defeat someone, find a treasure, something like that."  
Sighing, Shouyou leaned back on the windowsill. He would have to get out of here first, but he didn’t know if he should do it until Ennoshita-san and Sugawara-san trusted him completely. Besides, he also didn’t know if there was anyone he might have to defeat.  
"Didn’t your Senpai speak of someone?" Kenma murmured a little more thoughtfully.  
Shouyou looked at him again. "Right. Ennoshita-san said something about Oikawa and demons," he said then, "but I still don’t understand."  
Kenma just smiled at him. "For the time being, we have no choice but to wait. At least until Yaku was here."  
Shouyou nodded absently, then widened his eyes when he clearly recognized someone walking past the house. "Kageyama?! Kenma, did you see him too or do I start hallucinating?"  
Kenma turned his head to the window and looked around a little outside. "I don’t see him right now, but if you just saw him, he must have been."  
"... Maybe he can help us or something?", Shouyou murmured, reaching for the window handle, but stopped moving to open the window, "argh! Sugawara-san gets angry when I go out!"  
"Is he really that bad?" Kenma muttered to himself, leaning forward and looking through the wall of the house.  
It really irritated Shouyou that his friend was here next to him as a ghost.  
"Kenma, do you see anything outside?" He asked. For something, it had to be good that Kenma was just a ghost.  
"I see Kageyama," Kenma muttered, cocking his head aside, "he’s by a merchant or something? At least I would see it as something if I compare it to my games."  
Shouyou cocked his head. "Do you think I can go out and talk to him before Sugawara-san and Ennoshita-san get anything?" If he wasn’t far, he could do it, right?  
Kenma took a step back into the apartment and just shrugged. "No idea."  
Before Shouyou could think about it, however, he heard the door of the room open and turned in surprise.  
Sugawara-san came up to him with a smile while someone standing in front of him in a dark red robe and a large, pointed hat, almost completely black, with a dark red sign of a cat. His eyes turned to Shouyou, whereupon he winced and took a step back, even if he felt the windowsill behind him.  
"So you are Hinata Shouyou?"  
Shouyou nodded a little intimidated. Why was the other’s aura so powerful and intimidating?  
" _Yaku looks ... different,_ " Kenma murmured next to him, looking at him sideways.  
So was that Yaku? Somehow, Shouyou remembered the other one differently. But maybe it was just where they were and what the other one was.  
"Calm down," Yaku said, rolling his eyes slightly as he walked up to him, "it’s just routine, okay?" He reached for a wooden, slightly misshapen stick with a gem glowing dark red. Then he reached out his free hand in Shouyou’s direction and touched his forehead with two fingers.  
What Shouyou felt shortly afterwards felt overwhelming. In front of him was a thick fog and a large castle.  
The picture disappeared as quickly as it came and he looked straight into the other man’s brown eyes.  
"He’s not from this world, Suga," Yaku said shortly afterwards and turned to Sugawara-san.  
"What?" Sugawara-san asked, now turning his eyes to Shouyou, who was slowly picking up more of the room and looking at his senpai.  
"He was called," Yaku muttered, turned a little to the side again and looked at Shouyou, "you come from a world in which there is no magic and yet you have some. What did you just see?"  
Shouyou winced when he heard the haunted tone. "I- fog ... and a castle," he replied a little quieter, "and yes, none of that exists for me." Perhaps that was the hint that Kenma had meant that they had first, for a way to travel back to their world?  
"A castle in the fog," Yaku repeated, putting a hand thoughtfully on his chin.  
"Oikawa’s demon realm," Sugawara-san said, shaking his head violently shortly thereafter, "Yaku. You don’t want to say that Shouyou has to go there? He is still so petite and young! I will not let him expose himself to this danger!"  
Shouyou blinked in surprise when Sugawara-san was suddenly so protective. Before had he not thought he was a spy or something? But was that really something he had to do?  
"Suga. There is this prophecy. A boy from another world is the key to defeating Oikawa," Yaku replied. "He also has magic, even if he can’t use it yet."  
Shouyou stared at the other in confusion. Should he have magic?  
"How do you know that exactly? He could just be a normal boy," Sugawara-san said more seriously, "Yaku. I don’t want him to go there."  
"Uh, I think ...", Shouyou started a little bit more loudly, "I have to do it. I feel like I have to do something before I can go back. But I really don’t know my way around. Whether with magic or ... anything else?"  
Sugawara-san sighed and looked at him more intently for a moment before finally nodding. "If Yaku thinks it is the right way."  
Yaku then nodded and turned to Shouyou. "I’ll teach you the basics of magic. Can’t be worse than teaching this idiot," he said then, putting his hands on his hips, "and I’ll introduce you to Kageyama and Iwaizumi. After all, they are here to prepare for their fight against the demons and Oikawa."  
Shouyou nodded vigorously and went over to the other, glancing at Sugawara-san again. "I - I’m fine, Sugawara-san! But that’s something I have to do!" At least he hoped that was what he had to do.


	4. Chapter 03

A little surprised, Shouyou looked at Kenma, who was looking around him and examining the market they were walking through.  
"You look happy, Kenma," he whispered, looking at him, making sure that Yaku didn’t notice. But the way Kenma looked, he could almost see a glow in the feline eyes.  
" _What? Why should I?_ " Kenma said and shook his head, walking on next to him. " _I’m just excited to see what this world has to offer._ " He turned his head slightly to the side of Shouyou. " _Do you think it’s stupid that I enjoy it here?_ "  
Shouyou smiled, just shook his head. "No," he said quietly enough. But on the contrary. That was a side he didn’t usually see in Kenma and it was absolutely cute.  
"What are you dawdling there, Hinata?"  
Shouyou flinched briefly, noticed how Yaku had stopped and was now looking at him. "... what kind of spirit is that with you?"  
"Excuse me, Yaku-san," Shouyou said, bowing slightly and closing in on the other, cocking his head to one side. Spirit? What was Yaku talking about? Or did he mean Kenma? "Uh what?"  
"Well the ghost thing that follows you," Yaku said, turning his eyes to him, probably looking at Kenma, "there’s something strange about you. You definitely have magic, otherwise nothing like that would follow you, but you don’t know what it is." Thoughtfully, Yaku pushed his hat back and then turned away. "Is probably because you come from another world."  
"Sorry, I really don’t know -" Shouyou started, but noticed Yaku waving.  
"Leave it. We’ll start with the introductory courses so you know the basics," he said calmly, "oh man, Lev will be jealous that someone like you has a spirit."  
Shouyou just looked at the other in confusion before following him in silence. He just didn’t know what to say to that anyway. Where had he ended up and what exactly should he do to get back?  
" _We will definitely find out what all this means when we are at Yaku’s,_ " Kenma said calmly.  
It was actually just what Shouyou hoped for when they stopped at a larger building that Yaku pushed open the door to. "Please don’t touch anything, yes? Most of the things here have to do with magic and I don’t want to have to fix any catastrophe afterwards."  
Shouyou nodded behind him, even if Yaku couldn’t see it. "Sure, Yaku-san!" He replied quickly. "What is this here?" He asked curiously when he looked around the room where there were lots of shelves with bottles, bags or glasses. Another shelf had short and long bars in different colors and materials as far as Shouyou could see.  
"I run a shop for magic ingredients and everything you need to learn magic," Yaku replied, stepping across the room and hanging his cloak on the side of the cloakroom, putting on his hat in the next room at a chest of drawers. "Come over."  
Shouyou followed him a little faster, even if he was careful not to touch anything. He had a little respect for all the magical stuff there was and he didn’t want to have trouble with Yaku under any circumstances.  
"Yaku-san!!!"  
Shouyou blinked in shock when he stepped into the next room and heard the slightly panicked voice.  
Yaku only put his hands on his hips when Shouyou saw the other person stop in front of the witcher. He looked like Lev, only dressed in a beige robe, his ears pricked up in the air. A long tail swung around under the cord he had tied around his stomach. "What did you do, Lev?"  
"Uh ... tested a little spell?" Lev mumbled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he looked down at the witcher, "That was really nothing big. It was just ... so ... uh ..."  
Yaku sighed loudly, shook his head, and reached for his wand. "How many times have I told you not to touch anything or test new spells when I’m not there?"  
" _Some things don’t change in any world ..._ " Kenma muttered, Shouyou noticing Kenma rolling his eyes rather annoyed.  
Shouyou only saw Lev’s tail and ears return to normal when he was surprised to see the other jump over to him and look at him with wide eyes.  
"Who are you? Are you a new student of Yaku-san?! What is this? Why do you have a spirit?"  
Shouyou couldn’t help but blink for now, without even being able to answer. "Eh ..."  
"This is Hinata Shouyou," Yaku said then and sighed, turning to face him, "he’s something like my student."  
"Shouyou-kun?" Lev asked with beaming eyes, "why are you Yaku-san’s student? You already have a spirit, so why? I just can’t make a Spirit summon!! Can’t you tell me how you did it?"  
"I -" Shouyou started a little too perplexed.  
"Hinata knows less about magic than you do, Lev”, Yaku said, rolling his eyes, "I can’t tell you why he already has a spirit. And before you ask any further, I want you to look for Iwaizumi and Kageyama."  
"But-", Lev started, but then sighed and nodded, "okay Yaku-san!"  
After only seeing Lev running out of the shop, Shouyou slowly looked back at Yaku.  
"I think we have to start with the simplest basics," Yaku sighed and walked a bit through the room behind the shop, opened the drawer of a chest of drawers that was on the other side, and finally took out a light brown wand. After nodding briefly and closing the drawer again, he held the stick out to Shouyou. "Here."  
Shouyou went to him in surprise, took hold of the staff and finally took it completely in his hand, looking at it somewhat confused. "What?"  
"It’s a beginner’s magic wand that you can use to take your powers out," Yaku said, then went to another door, "and it prevents you from using your magic without wanting to do it yourself."  
Shouyou nodded and then followed him down a hall and down a flight of stairs, whereupon they ended up in a larger basement at the end of a hallway. There were plenty of shelves on the sides again. You could also see a kettle on one side. There was a black and white owl perched on the cauldron that seemed to be sleeping.  
"First of all, your magical power is released by energies that flow in your body. However, if you keep them inside you can die as well. By the way, that doesn’t mean that you die," Yaku said with a brief, skeptical look, while Shouyou hadn’t even noticed that he had looked at him more shocked for a moment, "it rather means that your strength wears off over time and eventually completely disappear if you don’t use them. And I think it can be different with you." Yaku cocked his head to the side. "You saw some of the vision I had a while ago. The demon castle in the fog. Which means that somehow you could see my memories without knowing it."  
"What- what do you mean, Yaku-san?" Shouyou asked. Why was he only here and why did he have such a task without knowing how he should really do it?  
Yaku only shook his head briefly. "Your spirit. Usually someone who has magic only gets a spirit when they have a certain magical power. It took me years to find him. Nekomata-sensei has one, but I don’t even know if anyone else from Nekoma has one." He sighed and smiled a bit bitterly. "However, I haven’t seen most of Nekoma in ages. Kuroo is a demon and Kenma has disappeared somewhere since the thing with ..." he swallowed and shook his head, "why am I actually telling you this?"  
"Kenma?" Shouyou asked a bit confused, turning his head to the side. Why was Yaku-san talking about his friend when he was next to him as a ghost?  
" _What does all this mean, Shouyou?_ " Kenma asked immediately, blinking a little more surprised at Yaku’s direction.  
"What?" Yaku asked.  
"You talked about Kenma ..." Shouyou murmured, but he stopped because he didn’t know if he should tell about his friend. After all, he was apparently considered his spirit in this world, whatever that was.  
"I did, but that has nothing to do with you," Yaku replied, just shaking his head again, "let’s start with a few simple exercises."  
Shouyou wanted to protest because he was interested in what it all meant and what was out of this world with Kenma, but he ignored the urge and instead gripped his staff to do what Yaku said and showed to him.  
Still, after a while, the thought didn’t go out of his head. "Yaku-san ... what exactly ... is this world?"  
"You want to know more about this world? Because of ... Kenma or why?" Yaku asked, sighed.  
"Maybe," Shouyou murmured a little more thoughtfully. He also just didn’t know whether to tell Yaku that Kenma was the spirit that accompanied him. Or how he should tell that.  
Yaku looked at him for a moment, but then took a deep breath. "All right. I’ll tell you the most important things in this world before we move on."


	5. Chapter 04

Shouyou looked at Yaku a little curiously as they sat down in a more comfortable living room and he was calmly eyed.  
"So where do we start ...?" Yaku thought about it and cocked his head to the side.  
"Uh, what is ... this city here?" Shouyou replied questioningly, still not sure if he should ask about Kenma if his friend also seemed to live here somewhere.  
"Karasuno Town?" Yaku asked, crossing one leg over the other, "something like a simple, peaceful village surrounded by fortress walls. They mainly make sure that no demons or anyone who wants to harm the residents can come in."  
Shouyou nodded to himself. "Does that mean that they are safe here? Is that why everyone was so skeptical when I showed up here?"  
Yaku shrugged. "The residents have become careful. Anyone with power can use it against others."  
"You mentioned ... Kenma earlier," Shouyou muttered a little more carefully, "he’s ... a friend in my world." It wasn’t necessary to say that Kenma was probably his spirit. Or at least that he existed as a spirit nearby.  
"Kenma is a magician from Nekoma," Yaku said and sighed, straightening up a little more, "something has probably happened after I left the village to find Kuroo. I have no idea where he is. The rumors that go through Karasuno are not good."  
"Is Nekoma ...?" Shouyou asked, glancing at Kenma’s ghost.  
"A magician village. Only someone who is from Nekoma knows where it is," Yaku said more seriously, "although I have no idea how much of this vow still exists, not to say anything after it is clear that one of us lives in Oikawa’s demon realm."  
Shouyou swallowed, nodded a little sad. "Who ...?"  
"Kuroo," Yaku replied, narrowing his eyes, "he’s one of the most powerful demons and hardly anyone can beat him."  
"But you could defeat him, couldn’t you, Yaku-san?!" Lev’s voice came to them before Shouyou could react while he only saw the other step into the room, "you will bring Kuroo-san to his sense right? And we will save Kenma!"  
Yaku sighed and rolled his eyes, looked away. "We don’t even know if Kenma is there or not. We don’t really know where he is." With a deep breath, he leaned back again. "Shouldn’t you find Iwaizumi and Kageyama?"  
"I have! They’ll come over tonight," Lev said with a clear hum, "and I’m sure Kenma is there. Where else should he be if he doesn’t answer?"  
"Uh ..." Shouyou started a little, "do you really think I can help them? I mean, I know I want to do something, but it’s all so new and unknown."  
"At least you have some powers that could help them," Yaku replied and nodded to him.  
"Why– why don’t you do anything when you’re so powerful?" Shouyou asked a little more amazed. After all, Lev had also said that he could do it.  
Yaku just narrowed his eyes, sighed a little, and reached for his witch stick. "I would really like to do something. But it could make too many victims from here if I travel there. This fight is not my fight."  
"I’m ready to help you, Yaku-san!" Lev said in a determined voice, "nobody will attack Karasuno while I’m here!"  
"You often put yourself at risk with your magic, so I can’t commission you to protect the village," Yaku said, shaking his head, "no, I think it is Hinata’s job for some reason."  
Shouyou swallowed, but nodded, even if he was still somewhat skeptical about exactly what he could do. Or how he should do it. But maybe it would happen over time? Perhaps, as Kenma had said, it was the goal he had to achieve to get back into his world? "I will do my best!"


	6. Chapter 05

Shouyou stood frozen in the living room and looked at the entrance of the room in which Iwaizumi and Kageyama were standing and staring at him with a scowl. "Uh ...?"  
"Who is that?" Iwaizumi asked, turning his head in Yaku’s direction, who was still sitting in his chair and just looking back calmly.  
"Hinata Shouyou," replied Yaku, "he comes from another world."  
"The hero of the legend?" Iwaizumi asked, raised an eyebrow and looked back at Shouyou, "what can he do?"  
Shouyou swallowed and didn’t dare to move. "I- so, uh -",  
"He has magical abilities," Yaku replied for him.  
"You are a magician?" Kageyama asked with his eyebrows raised, "what can you do?"  
"Ah, I- I’m still learning, I guess?" Shouyou grinned back, embarrassed. Somehow, he felt too intimidated by the other one, though he thought he had gotten used to him by now. Or was it because he knew he was a warrior here and could probably do more to him than in his world?  
"And how are you going to help us there?" Kageyama growled, rolling his eyes, looking to the side, "an apprentice magician is unlikely to help us fight Oikawa."  
"I’m skeptical too," Iwaizumi murmured, cocking his head, "are you sure he’ll help us, Yaku?"  
"He has a spirit," Yaku said calmly, "I think he’ll learn quickly if he gets the chance."  
"This chibi has a spirit?" Kageyama growled and came up to Shouyou, still looking at him seriously from above, "how did you do it?"  
Shouyou swallowed and scratched the back of his head. If he would knew that. But actually his spirit was only Kenma, who was bound to him in some way. "I- I have no idea?"  
"Kageyama, stop," Iwaizumi said, making Kageyama turn away from him and go back, "if Yaku says he can help us."  
"Tze, all right," Kageyama replied, turning his head away from his partner, "I don’t think he’s useful to us, but maybe he can be used as bait."  
"We don’t sacrifice comrades just to defeat Oikawa," Iwaizumi said, shaking his head, "don’t listen to him, Hinata. It is difficult to gain Kageyama’s trust."  
Shouyou looked at him and just grinned, then waved him off. "It’s okay." He was also used to Kageyama being mean to him, even if this was a little different. Nor was it that he had any idea what he had to do here. "But I want to do everything I can to help you."  
"Actually, I would really like to know beforehand what kind of spirit that is that’s following him," Yaku said shortly afterwards.  
Shouyou looked over at him in astonishment as he noticed Kenma looking at him too. "What ...?"  
"You’re a beginner and yet a spirit follows you," Yaku said, then got up and walked over to him, clutching his witch stick on the way, "there must be something about him."  
" _Shouyou ..._ " Kenma whispered to him, his eyes more on Yaku.  
"If it’s necessary?" Shouyou replied, grinning wryly. After all, he didn’t know why Kenma was with him as a ghost or what this whole thing with the spirits meant.  
"Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you, but you should sit down to be safe," Yaku said, pointing to the side of the sofa, which was in the room.  
Shouyou nodded and sat down on it, looking a little confused at Yaku, who now stepped up to him and reached out his free hand in his direction. "Yaku-san ...?"  
"Pscht," Yaku only did before Shouyou could go on.  
For a moment Shouyou just looked at the other in front of him without moving or saying anything. Over time, however, the image in front of him blurred and everything he saw was covered in a dark veil.  
In the middle of this blurry picture he recognized again this large castle, surrounded by darkness, and in front of it the silhouette of a person. Or at least he thought it was a person because he really couldn’t see anything else.  
" _I’m waiting for you._ " The voice was a single echo that kept echoing in the dark, which is why Shouyou couldn’t assign it to anyone.  
The picture faded and shortly afterwards he looked back at Yaku, who looked at him more calmly as he took a step back. "That’s impossible."  
"What?" Shouyou asked, blinking irritated, "what do you mean, Yaku-san?"  
"Your spirit. Kenma. Why is Kenma your spirit?" Yaku asked. He slowly reattached his wand to his mage cloak.  
"I– I don’t know," Shouyou said, just shaking his head again, "we woke up here together."  
"What does that mean, Yaku?" Iwaizumi asked, which Shouyou realized that he and Kageyama were still in the room with them.  
Yaku only shook his head at that. "Kenma is not really Hinata’s spirit. Or at least not what we call spirit. But he should go with you. Maybe you will find out something when you are on the go."  
"Neither Kageyama nor I are familiar with magic, which is why we can hardly teach him to use it," Iwaizumi said and sighed, "so how should he help us?"  
"I think Hinata will know what to do when the time comes," Yaku said, looking back at Shouyou, "or Kenma knows. After all, he’s a magician from Nekoma."  
"Uh," Shouyou muttered, scratching the back of his head, "that is a lot of trust." On the other hand, Kenma had experience with role-playing games. Maybe that’s why he could help him? Maybe that was what Yaku meant?  
" _We can at least try,_ " Kenma said to him.  
Shouyou grinned wryly. Try if they didn’t know what could happen in this world. He just hoped that if something went wrong, there would be no too bad consequences. After all, this wasn’t one of Kenma’s games.  
"So we have to play babysitter for an inexperienced magician? Great," Kageyama said, looking annoyed to the side, "we should just use him as a shield in case we get attacked, Iwaizumi-san."  
"We won’t, Kageyama," Iwaizumi replied, sighing only theatrically, "are you coming, Hinata? We should have a good rest tonight so we can get going tomorrow."  
Shouyou grinned a little crookedly. After all, he had the feeling that at least Iwaizumi didn’t want to sacrifice him straight away, which was perhaps a good thing. And Kageyama seemed to be listening to him. "Uh, sure," he said then, walking over to them, looking back, and pressing the stick he had received from Yaku. "Thanks for everything, Yaku-san!"  
"I wish you the best of luck, Hinata," Yaku said, giving him a quick smile before his eyebrows narrowed.  
" _I don’t know why, but I have a strange feeling with Yaku,_ " Kenma said next to him as they followed Iwaizumi and Kageyama.  
Shouyou swallowed slightly, but said nothing. He also didn’t know what to say to it.


	7. Chapter 06

It was late and yet Shouyou was woken up by a sound. He opened his eyes and turned to the side, noticing Kageyama leaning against the window of the tavern where they had rented a room. He held an arrow in his hand and looked a little more thoughtfully ahead of him, probably not realizing that Shouyou had woken up. Or at least he suspected it.  
Shouyou swallowed. He knew that Kageyama wasn‘t a good person to talk to. Slowly he let his eyes slide to the side, watching Iwaizumi, who seemed to sleep peacefully in his sleeping place. How could he help them if he had no idea what to do?  
"You are awake, Chibi?"  
Shouyou winced when he heard Kageyama’s voice and turned his head back to him, saw Kageyama now look at him and that he’d turned the arrow in his direction. He just made an indefinable sound because he didn’t know what to say.  
"Should you stand in my way, I won’t spare you, understand?" Kageyama growled, before turning the arrow in his hand again so that the tip was pointing upwards.  
Shouyou swallowed. "Got it," he said, grinning wryly. He believed Kageyama every word that if he acted stupid or did something that would endanger them, he would kill him.  
"Good," Kageyama replied with a last look in his direction before ignoring him.  
Shouyou watched him for a moment before sitting up a little more. "Is ... is everything all right?" Why had he had a feeling earlier, as if the other had been a little sad? What had he and Iwaizumi been through?  
"Why do you want to know that?" Kageyama asked with a clear displeasure in his voice, "you should rather see that you practice how you use these skills instead of taking care of me."  
Naturally. Shouyou knew he should take care of his magic skills, but he didn’t know how. Yaku had said that he would know what to do. Or that Kenma would show him. But what if it wasn’t? What if he wasn’t special help out there and he was only in the way for Kageyama and Iwaizumi? "Maybe ... I want to know a little more about you. Or your fight?" He didn’t even know why he suddenly said that, but for some reason it had come over him.  
His eyes turned to Kageyama, who was now looking closer at him again. The other’s eyes narrowed before he turned and just looked out of the window.  
"My only goal is to defeat Oikawa-san," Kageyama said in a clear voice, "and I will destroy anyone who gets in my way."  
Shouyou swallowed when he heard the determination in Kageyama’s voice. "You-",  
"Listen, Hinata," Kageyama started and now turned back to him, pointed his arrow again in his direction and looked at him with a scowl, "I won’t let anyone stop me, understand? Oikawa is mine. I will kill him."  
Shouyou fell silent and just nodded. The other’s icy tone was so different that he just couldn’t say anything more. Why did it feel like something was contracting in him? Why did he have such a strange feeling now that he knew what Kageyama was up to? Shouldn’t it be what he had to do to get back? Hadn’t Kenma said something like it had to defeat the final boss of a game? In this case, Oikawa? Shouldn’t it make him happy if Kageyama planned to do something like that?  
"You should be sleeping, Hinata," Kageyama said, pulling him out of his thoughts, "not that you break in on the way with exhaustion tomorrow."  
"Shouldn’t you follow the advice yourself?!" Shouyou growled and glared back at him, "after all you are awake all the time!"  
"Unlike you, I’ve been used to this life a little longer, idiot," Kageyama replied, rolling his eyes, "and small children like you should sleep longer."  
"I’m not -", Shouyou started while he was about to jump up.  
"Kageyama, you really should be sleeping too," Shouyou heard Iwaizumi’s voice, which interrupted him as he noticed the sleepy look of the other.  
"I can’t," Kageyama replied a little calmer and turned back to the window.  
"Nightmares?" Iwaizumi asked a little quieter and Shouyou swallowed when he heard the other, "come here."  
Shouyou glanced briefly at Kageyama, noticed how he went to his partner before turning around on his bed and looking closer at the wall. He didn’t know if he really wanted to hear what they were talking about. He just closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. He somehow felt that for the moment they weren’t even aware of his presence.  
"... I don’t want to fight him," Shouyou heard Kageyama’s voice softly, even if he absolutely didn’t want to listen. But he just couldn’t go back to sleep.  
"Oikawa won’t hesitate and you know that," Iwaizumi’s voice was serious, and yet Shouyou heard something gentle, "either he or we."  
"Why can you do that? How so-",  
Shouyou swallowed when he noticed Kageyama’s sentence sobbing so that he couldn’t hear it anymore.  
"Calm down, Tobio," Iwaizumi’s voice came through the room after a while of sobbing, "we’ll do everything we can to ensure that it doesn’t end bloody. But if we don’t have a choice, if you only have that choice, you have to do it."  
Shouyou was pretty sure it would be better if he stopped listening. He didn’t want to hear it anymore, he just wanted to sleep. He turned on his stomach, pressed his head under the pillow and tried to hide the voices and hopefully fall asleep so easily. Whatever Kageyama and Iwaizumi had experienced before was none of his business anyway. He just wanted to do what he had to do to get back into his world. Right now it looked like his _final boss_ was Oikawa, if he could call it that.  
Maybe it was his job to defeat him because Kageyama and Iwaizumi couldn’t, for whatever reason? Even if Kageyama’s sentence went through his mind again, maybe that was why he was here because he was supposed to help them.


	8. Chapter 07

Shouyou had absolutely no idea how he had fallen asleep the previous night. When he woke up he only noticed Kenma sitting in front of him. "... Kenma?" He whispered sleepily without really thinking about where they were and that Kenma was just a ghost or spirit.  
" _Are you awake, Shouyou?_ " Kenma asked quietly, turning his head slightly away from him and looking more through the room.  
"Hm," Shouyou replied, leaning on the bed a little and trying to see a little more in the room, noting that he seemed to be alone with Kenma. Or at least he couldn’t see Iwaizumi and Kageyama for the moment.  
" _I don’t know what it is, but I had a dream. Can we really trust Yaku?_ " Kenma asked softly and sighed a little more, " _I said I trust him, but that was more because I thought that ... after all, we are teammates._ "  
Shouyou swallowed, remembering what Kenma had said when he said he trusted Sugawara-san and Ennoshita-san. He trusted them because they were his teammates, but what did this mean? "What do you mean exactly, Kenma?"  
" _Why am I here with you when it would make more sense if this magician were with you and helps you?_ " Kenma muttered to himself, " _If I am a magician in this world, why should I go with you and why was Yaku so shocked when he found out about me?_ "  
Shouyou swallowed and then sat up. "Maybe we can find out more when we’re out with Iwaizumi and Kageyama?" What should they do if they know so little about this world? "Where are the two actually?"  
Kenma just shrugged. " _No idea. They just got out and didn’t want to wake you up._ " He turned his head to Shouyou and looked a little more towards him. " _I just wanted to draw your attention to the fact that maybe we can’t just trust everyone just because we think they are our friends in our world._ "  
Shouyou nodded to himself. Until now, they didn’t even really know why they were here and what they really had to do. It was only a guess that it had something to do with Oikawa. "Kenma? Can it really be that Oikawa is the enemy we have to defeat to return?"  
He noticed Kenma turn away and just look out of the window, then shrug his shoulders imperceptibly. " _Have you ever seen Oikawa all the time?_ "  
Shouyou raised his head in surprise. "I have -" he stopped and then shook his head a little more. He remembered fog, a castle, or something in the dark. He remembered the silhouette of a person he couldn’t really see who seemed to be waiting for him. But he had no idea who spoke to him because he couldn’t really identify the voice. "No," he replied to Kenma’s question.  
" _Yaku spoke of Oikawa’s demon realm. Iwaizumi and Kageyama are after him, we ... why do we trust everyone so easily?_ "  
Shouyou swallowed and bowed his head, looking at the floor in front of him. He knew Kenma was right about that. It wasn‘t what they knew. He hadn’t recognized Oikawa in his visions; there were others who had drawn his attention to it. Even if it was that Oikawa was some enemy to defeat, how would he know that it was really his _final boss_ to get out of here? What exactly was his job here?  
"Are you finally awake, Chibi?"  
Shouyou winced when Kageyama’s voice surprised him and turned to the other. "Wha- uh, sure," he replied with a little grin, "where have you been?"  
"Got some more errands," Iwaizumi said calmly as he parked a backpack next to him, "here, eat that, Hinata."  
A little surprised, Shouyou caught a half-wrapped, smaller loaf of bread and blinked at it irritably before looking at Iwaizumi. "Uh, thanks? What-",  
"We have to go. I’m pretty sure it won’t be long before they realize Kageyama and I are here," Iwaizumi said, shouldering the backpack again, "so hurry up."  
"And don’t stop us, Chibi," Kageyama added, before turning away and going outside, "I have no problem leaving you to your fate."  
"Tobio, don’t be so mean," Iwaizumi grumbled next to him and sighed louder, "don’t listen to him. Oikawa had a bad impact on him."  
"Pff," Kageyama said without turning around again.  
Shouyou grinned wryly, grabbed a simple fabric jacket and the stick he had received from Yaku before following Iwaizumi and Kageyama. He really didn’t want to think about what was going on or why they had to leave so quickly. Even if he got a little more curious when he heard them. Also because of the previous night, so little he wanted to listen to them.  
He just silently followed his two companions because he himself didn’t know what to say or whether he should say anything at all. As they passed through a gate of a large, stony fortress wall, Shouyou noticed that one of the guards was watching him with a stern look. The other was almost completely encased in armor, and the eyes that pierced him alone made it impossible for Shouyou to see if he knew him from anywhere. He had such a feeling that he had also seen him before, but it was too short and he couldn’t really see much of the other because of the armor.  
He was just happy when he followed Iwaizumi and Kageyama and was a short distance from this guy who had looked him over so directly. Even if the area behind the walls didn’t look more inviting, as Shouyou noted. In front of them was a landscape with a row of trees on one side. Otherwise there wasn’t much to see at first.  
"Where are we here?" Shouyou asked quietly, even if he didn’t know if he wanted to know at all. Karasuno Town had seemed so peaceful considering what it looked like here. As if they were unprotected from any dangers that could exist anywhere.  
"Oikawa’s demon realm is over there," Kageyama said, pointing in the direction they were looking, "if you take the wrong step, it was it for you, Chibi."  
Shouyou noticed Kageyama grinning at him as if he didn’t hesitate to just let him die there. How could he defend himself against demons if he didn’t even know how to fight?  
"We are not going to Seijoh," Iwaizumi said, interrupting Shouyou’s thoughts and horror scenario, "a path leads through the forest up there to a city. We’ll surely find a magician there who can show you what you need to know, Hinata."  
Shouyou looked at the warrior, a little surprised, while he noticed how Kageyama snorted. "Didn’t you want–?"  
"If we were to go to Oikawa’s realm with you now, you would not get very far," Iwaizumi said, waving something off, and headed towards the forest, "there we cannot take care of you."  
"Why couldn’t Yaku -" Shouyou murmured a little quieter as he followed the warrior. Hadn’t Yaku intended to teach him?  
"He’s not what you think he is either," Kageyama grunted behind him and Shouyou noticed from the corner of his eye how he stepped next to him and rolled his eyes.  
Iwaizumi briefly turned his head to them before sighing and looking ahead again. "There are many places that would rather join Oikawa than be against him. Nekoma is- nobody knows who they are really loyal to. And this village is famous for training powerful magicians."  
Shouyou swallowed while he couldn’t really respond to it. If you couldn’t trust someone from Nekoma, what about Yaku? Lev had sounded like he was fighting Oikawa, but maybe Kenma was right that they didn’t know what exactly Yaku wanted or which side he was on. "What ... so what should we do?"  
"Looking for comrades who don’t believe in power," Iwaizumi replied, looking back at him with a grin when he turned his head briefly towards him, "and a magician who will help you without possibly betraying us if it’s more lucrative."


	9. Chapter 08

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally a update for this! >3

As they walked a small path through the forest area, Shouyou felt himself relax a little. They were patterned by the creatures on the branches and on the ground, but none of them attacked them.  
Perhaps he should begin to trust that Iwaizumi and Kageyama wanted to help him and would not let him die directly. No matter what Kageyama told him, but after all he was used to the other, wasn’t he?  
"Shouyou!"  
Startled, Shouyou turned his head to Kenma when he only saw something shining flying towards his friend and he noticed how his ghostly shape was pressed onto the floor.  
"So this kid really has a spirit, huh," Shouyou heard a giggling voice, so that he turned around slowly and looked in the direction he had heard it from.  
"Don’t move!" Kageyama hissed, having drawn his bow within seconds and held an arrow at it, while Shouyou just widened his eyes in horror.  
In front of them was a girl with short, blonde hair, who wore a dark red ribbon tied around her head. Her clothes consisted of a black and red dress, around which a glittering ribbon was tied around her waist. She was holding something that looked like a glass arch. "Shouldn’t you take care of him?"  
Shouyou still felt frozen, but he followed her finger and looked back at Kenma, whose shape flickered a little. What had she done? "What-?"  
"Is Oikawa sending you?" Iwaizumi’s voice came through to him, so that he looked back at the others.  
"Oh" she waved and giggled, "I don’t know if Oikawa-sama knows anything about him. The way he looks, he doesn’t have to worry about it."  
"What did you do with Kenma?" Shouyou asked, looking at her with a sparkle in his eyes, clutching his staff.  
"I can make Spirits harmless," she continued to giggle, turning her bow with one hand, "Don’t worry, your friend won’t die, little one. Not _yet_."  
"What?" Shouyou stared at her angrier, "what do you mean?" Even as he spoke, he felt a kind of lightning shoot out of his staff and hit just before this girl.  
"Uh-uh," she said, narrowing her eyes, "Yaku gave you an interesting toy. I don’t understand why Kuroo-san trusts him."  
"Not a word more, Yachi," Kageyama said, pulling his arrow back a little more.  
"We both know you won’t kill me, Kageyama-kun," Yachi continued to giggle.  
"Tobio, stop," Iwaizumi said, holding out his arm to his partner, "why are you here, Yachi? Just because of that spirit?"  
"Hmmm", she made and put her hand on her chin, "I wanted to know how you are doing. And besides, explore this spirit. Bye!" With a last wink, she disappeared into a dark purple cloud of smoke as quickly as she had previously appeared.  
"Why did you stop me?" Kageyama growled, turning his head to the side.  
"Killing Yachi doesn’t do us any good," Iwaizumi said and sighed, then turned to Shouyou, "she just wanted to distract us."  
Shouyou swallowed and then went to Kenma, kneeling on the floor beside him when he noticed his appearance flicker a little. "Kenma, what ... Iwaizumi? Kageyama? What ... what’s going on here?"  
"Sorry, we cannot help you because we have no magical powers," Iwaizumi shook his head, "but it is something I picked up. You should have the strength to save him yourself if you concentrate your magical energy. After all, you are connected to him."  
"Yachi wanted to kill him because she knew our chibi wasn’t ready to save him here yet," Kageyama murmured a little grumpily, "and we can’t help him."  
Shouyou turned his head briefly before looking back at Kenma. How should he know what to do without any experience? What would happen if Kenma died here just because he wasn’t good enough? He clutched his staff and swallowed hard. If he had any clue as to how he could use that energy to save Kenma. Anything?  
_"Shou-you ..."_  
Irritated, Shouyou opened his eyes, not even noticing that he had pinched them, staring at Kenma, who had his hand closed around his staff. "Kenma?"  
" _Together?_ " Kenma whispered and smiled at him, " _you can do it. You- you are incredible, Shouyou. I ... I trust you._ "  
Shouyou swallowed and shook his head briefly, but then nodded. He really didn’t know what to do or how to do it, but if Kenma trusted him, he had to be able to do it, right? He felt a heat come over him, just looking into Kenma’s eyes. It was hot, but not uncomfortable for some reason.  
"What ... what’s that?" Kageyama’s surprised voice only came to him in a brief, whispering moment.  
Did it work? Could he do anything? Why didn’t Kenma’s flickering appearance change? Why couldn’t this be as easy as volleyball? Even if he had to train quite a bit, he had always made it at some point. Kenma said he was incredible, but was he that when he couldn’t save him? This wasn’t volleyball. This was something that was much more powerful and perhaps had a much greater impact on them. He couldn’t let Kenma die if he didn’t know what it did when they came back. He could not!  
" _... Shouyou ..._ "  
"Kenma!!"  
His scream went down in a light and suddenly everything around him was silent. _Kenma_? Shouyou blinked, looked around. Why did he feel that no word came out of his lips? Where was he here? Where was Kenma?  
He turned around, noticed that he was alone. Where were Iwaizumi and Kageyama?  
What had happened?  
"What a mischief."  
Shouyou raised his head when he heard the voice and saw an older man dressed in a red robe, with gray hair and a feline look. The wrinkles on his face were also clearly visible. However, Shouyou’s eyes were more on his friend, who was in the other’s arms. "Kenma!" His voice rolled over and he stumbled forward without being able to control his steps. "Kenma! Kenma!"


	10. Chapter 09

"Calm down, young magician."  
Shouyou swallowed when he heard the voice in a slightly amusing tone. "What is- Kenma! What about Kenma?" His own voice rolled over as he felt tears gather in his eyes as he looked at the other. Kenma was still in the arms of this man who looked at him so calmly.  
"Don’t worry," he finally replied, running a hand over Kenma’s forehead, "you really did everything to save Kenma, even though you didn’t know what you had to do, Shouyou."  
"Wha- what-" Shouyou replied a little perplexed when he heard the other one, "where from, why ... who are you anyway?"  
"How do I know your name? The magic told me," he said, smiling at him calmly, "who am I? My name is Nekomata Yasufumi. You already met my best student, right?"  
Shouyou blinked, remembering that Yaku had mentioned him once. "You- are you talking about Yaku-san?"  
Nekomata sighed and moved his hand over Kenma’s forehead, brushing the strands of hair aside. "If Morisuke weren’t so hurt, he’d be the one who would soon take my place at Nekoma," he said quietly.  
"What do you mean- can you help me?", Shouyou asked and looked at him with wide eyes, "I want to get stronger. I don’t want Kenma to suffer like this again! I-!"  
Nekomata stopped him by just stretching out his arm, which he had previously used to touch Kenma on the forehead. "Your magical powers are deep within you. All you have to do is figure out how to release them. I helped you save Kenma, but I can’t do more for you, Shouyou."  
He swallowed and lowered his eyes. So he wasn’t a step further before Yachi attacked them.  
"You have questions, right, Shouyou? To this world," Nekomata said calmly, whereupon Shouyou looked up and noticed how Nekomata settled on the floor and Kenma was lying in front of him. "Sit down."  
Shouyou swallowed, then nodded, then slid to a sitting position, looking a little more thoughtfully at Kenma’s sleeping figure. "I heard that nobody knows who Nekoma is loyal to."  
"Nekoma is not committed to anyone and not loyal to anyone, except to one of us," Nekomata replied with a sense of calm, "no, we don’t support Oikawa if you think that now." Still, Shouyou noticed how Nekomata lowered his eyes and stroked over Kenma‘s face again. "However, I cannot speak for those who no longer belong to us."  
"What?" Shouyou asked confused, "who- how-", he stopped and swallowed. What exactly did he want to know?  
"Is this staff from Morisuke?" Nekomata asked, narrowing his eyes, looking at the staff that Shouyou was still clutching unconsciously.  
Shouyou blinked, then nodded a little weakly. "What-?"  
"With that, you should be able to release your strength when you need it," Nekomata said calmly, "Magic is easy if you can use it." He smiled a little. "... So Morisuke wants to help you ..."  
"But how?" Shouyou replied a little more confused.  
"Kenma will guide you," Nekomata said calmly, turning his gaze back to his friend, putting a hand on his head, "it was probably his idea."  
"But Kenma ... he has no idea about this world either," Shouyou replied and swallowed something, "we both don’t know this world here."  
"Kenma is a magician from Nekoma, it was his decision that you got a spirit," Nekomata said calmly, "maybe so that he can help you, although ..."  
Shouyou looked at the older man in surprise when he noticed that Nekomata’s voice broke off. Why did he look so sad at the moment? "What ... wouldn’t it be easier if this magician were with us?"  
" _My_ Kenma is dead," Nekomata replied, making Shouyou just look at him wide-eyed, "he probably found out someone was bringing you here and chose Kenma as a spirit to be with you."  
" _Hinata!_ " - " _Where are you, idiot?!_ "  
Shouyou swallowed, then blinked when he heard Iwaizumi and Kageyama’s voices loud and clear.  
"Your comrades are apparently looking for you," Nekomata said and sighed, "it is better if you return."  
"What about Kenma?" Shouyou asked, looking at his friend, "how do I get back?"  
"He’ll follow you and you just have to use your magic to come back," Nekomata said quietly, smiling at him, stretching his arm out in his direction.  
"Why- why can’t you help me anymore?" Shouyou replied, slowly rising and clutching his staff. He turned his head to the side and saw a glow of light that looked like a small gate.  
"I am in Nekoma, this connection is only possible through our magical power, but I cannot teach you anything here," Nekomata said calmly as he leaned over to Kenma, "but I think there will be someone else who can help you."  
Shouyou swallowed, then nodded, turned, and concentrated on being able to come back.  
"One more thing, Shouyou," Nekomata said, when he already noticed how this light grew larger in front of him and he saw a blurred image of the forest he had been in before, "even if Morisuke gave you this staff. It would be better if you didn’t trust my students so easily."  
" _I will not disappoint you again, Nekomata-san,_ " Kenma’s voice came to him, whereupon Shouyou looked sideways in surprise and noticed how Kenma had moved next to him, " _thank you ... for everything._ "  
"Kenma?" Shouyou whispered briefly, but then nodded. He knew that he could not have saved Kenma without Nekomata.  
" _Let’s go, Shouyou,_ " Kenma said quietly next to him.  
Shouyou nodded again, then moved toward the gate, which had appeared before them. He would be more careful from now on and improve his powers. He wasn’t going to let anything like that happen again and he couldn’t save Kenma alone.  
"... So Morisuke is also hoping that someone will come to end all this, even though ...?", He heard Nekomata’s soft voice behind him before it faded in the light in front of him and Shouyou just closed his eyes in order not to be too blinded. Even if he thought about what was going on with the elderly, it was probably something he would find out in time.

He stumbled a little in front of him and blinked when he recognized the trees in front of him before slowly raising his head again. "What ...?"  
"What happened, Hinata?" Iwaizumi’s voice came to him, whereupon he looked at him more confused.  
"What ... I was ..." he started, looked briefly to the side and noticed how Kenma was next to him and looked at him calmly, "uh, I think I did it?"  
"It was taking a long time, Chibi," Kageyama grumbled, crossing his arms next to him.  
"It doesn’t matter now, let’s go on," Iwaizumi said, sighing slightly, "the more important thing is that we have to be even more careful now. We can be glad that it was only Yachi."  
"She just wanted to stop us anyway, because this idiot doesn’t know how to use his powers properly," Kageyama said, shaking his head, then went on next to Iwaizumi.  
Shouyou grunted, but only followed them in silence. He was just glad that he had somehow managed it with Nekomata’s help. Even if he didn’t know whether to tell Iwaizumi and Kageyama about it. After all, they had no particular opinion of Nekoma and whether those from there were really loyal. Nekomata had also said that they were not loyal to anyone except themselves.


	11. Chapter 10

When they set up camp in the middle of the forest later that evening, Shouyou blinked a little irritated because he hadn’t noticed how much time had really passed. On the other hand, he must have been in this magical room or whatever that was longer with Nekomata.  
With a deep sigh, he settled on the small campfire what they had lit and looked at his new comrades. "Uh ... who or what is ... Yachi?" After all, she was so different from what she was in his world. "After all, you were glad that it was only her?"  
"She is a young witch and, as you have seen, a spirit destroyer," Iwaizumi said, sighing slightly, "and yes, she is part of Oikawa’s entourage."  
"But she still has not her full strength over it," Kageyama added and leaned backwards, looked into the tree tops, "she cannot completely destroy a spirit. But he still dies if a magician cannot bring him back himself."  
Shouyou swallowed hard. So Kenma would have died if he hadn’t somehow managed it and Nekomata hadn’t helped him?  
"The question is, how did she know we were going to Fukuroudani? How did she know that you are an inexperienced magician with a spirit?" Iwaizumi asked a little more thoughtfully. "If she was sent by Oikawa, I could understand it, but it didn’t sound that way."  
"Maybe this magician from Nekoma gave us away," Kageyama growled, without sitting up again, "I told you we shouldn’t trust him."  
"You’re thinking of Yaku," Iwaizumi murmured, shaking his head briefly, "you don’t trust him all the time, Tobio."  
"I don’t think he wants to betray us," Shouyou murmured a little lower, looking at his staff, thinking about what Nekomata had told him.  
"Where do you get this belief from without really knowing it, Chibi?", Kageyama asked and sat up again, fixed his eyes on him, "just because he gave you something?"  
"No, I-" Shouyou replied softly, but then swallowed and only saw in front of him. Nekomata had also said that he couldn’t really trust anyone from Nekoma. But at the same time he had looked as if there was something else.  
"What happened in the time when you got your spirit back and disappeared from here, Hinata?" Iwaizumi asked a little more insistently, "you seem to know more than you want to tell us."  
Shouyou looked up in surprise and widened his eyes a little. Could he tell them that? "I ..." on the other hand they were his comrades in this world and they had the same goal, didn’t they? "I ... met the head of Nekoma or something," he murmured with a slightly questioning undertone, since he only suspected that Nekomata was something like that.  
"What?" Iwaizumi and Kageyama replied almost simultaneously.  
Shouyou just nodded to confirm. "He helped me with Kenma. He also said that Nekoma is not on Oikawa’s side."  
"Maybe he just wants you to think that, have you ever thought of it?" Kageyama growled, rolling his eyes, "nobody knows where Nekoma is or who they are loyal to."  
"Nobody," Shouyou muttered in part, "that’s what Nekomata said. They are not loyal to anyone except one of them."  
"Well, if he helped you with Kenma," Iwaizumi sighed and took a deep breath, "but there must be something that made Yachi visit us."  
Shouyou swallowed and just looked aside to Kenma’s ghost. He just didn’t know what to make of this information anyway. When he thought about it more closely, Nekomata had looked like he knew something was wrong with Yaku. But did that mean it was Yaku who betrayed them?  
"No matter who it was, we should be more careful," Iwaizumi said at last, "you should rest, I will keep watch for the first few hours."  
"All right," Kageyama murmured, then nodded, "we have no other choice."  
"Yes, we should," Shouyou said a little quieter. He really wished he could help them somehow, but until now he really didn’t know how.

–*–

When Shouyou woke up, he looked straight into two light brown eyes while someone was leaning over him. The other’s hair hung slightly to one side, while two large, pointed, bright ears stood in the air. "You smell funny," replied the one, shrugging his ears.  
Shouyou swallowed and moved a little away from him, turning his head to the side. His eyes widened when he saw that Iwaizumi and Kageyama were being held by two other figures, though wrapped in a dark cloak and hood, and apparently unable to move. "What- what do you want? Who are you?" He clutched his staff with a quick grip and held it in front of him. He had to be able to do something, right?  
" _Shouyou, concentrate,_ " he heard Kenma’s voice behind him.  
"So you’re a little magician, right?" The stranger giggled in front of him, while Shouyou saw a bright, bushy tail swinging next to him.  
"Get out of there, Fox," Shouyou heard another voice before he could say anything, and only noticed how two creatures flew towards the two figures holding Iwaizumi and Kageyama.  
"What? Do you have any help?" The fox grumbled in front of him and waved his tail up, "annoying ..."  
"How about you pulling away?" Iwaizumi replied, clutching the handle of his sword after he had completely warded off his attacker and was now looking in Shouyou’s direction.  
"Pff," the fox said, sitting up, "you’re really lucky ... retreat!" Before Shouyou could react, he saw the other turn into a beige fox and disappear into the forest.  
"What ... who were they?" He murmured, blinking when he saw two owls flew over the camp and finally landing each on one arm of a person.  
"Simple thieves," grumbled the stranger as he got closer to them, "are part of a clan that wanders a lot around here."  
"You’re a tamer of beasts, aren’t you?" Iwaizumi asked as he straightened up a bit and stuck his sword away, "thanks for your help."  
"You should really be learning to defend yourself, little one," Kageyama grumbled, straightening his bow again.  
"I am," the stranger replied and sighed, "what are you doing here? Especially with an inexperienced magician." The two owls now settled on the stranger’s shoulders.  
"It’s Hinata why we’re here," Iwaizumi replied, looking at him more seriously, "we’re on our way to Fukuroudani to find someone to teach him magic."  
Shouyou nodded to himself. "Uh, yes, I ..."  
"You are warriors from Seijoh," the stranger murmured and cocked his head, "do you support Oikawa?"  
"We are preparing to fight him," Iwaizumi said, shaking his head briefly, "but we are from Seijoh. You heard from us?"  
The stranger nodded and twisted a misshapen stick in his right hand. "I heard about you. Fukuroudani is a good city to get information from anywhere. Iwaizumi Hajime and Kageyama Tobio, aren’t you?" He stopped and touched the head of one of his owls with his free hand. "Why does Oikawa’s strongest warrior stand against him when he has supported him for years?"  
"Some things have happened," Iwaizumi replied, narrowing his eyes, "but if you know us, it would be interesting to know who you are."  
Shouyou just looked quietly between the others, absolutely not knowing what to say. What had happened in Iwaizumi’s and Kageyama’s past?  
"My name is Akaashi Keiji," the stranger said, looking at them with a haunting look, "and these two ..." he pointed to the two owls on his shoulders, "are my most faithful companions in the fight against Oikawa."


	12. Chapter 11

After a moment of understanding that they were probably aiming for the same thing, Akaashi led them to the city gates of Fukuroudani, which caused Shouyou to be a little amazed when he saw how vast the city was. They were just at the beginning and yet a few rows of houses and streets were stretching in different directions.  
It was completely different from what he had seen in Karasuno. "Wow."  
"Fukuroudani is one of the largest cities in the country," Akaashi said with a smile, "here you should find out if there is someone who can teach you, Hinata."  
"That’s ... wow!" Shouyou was still wide-eyed.  
"Calm down," Kageyama replied and snorted next to him, "let’s see if we can find what we’re looking for here."  
"You’re going ahead," Iwaizumi said, moving in the direction of a street, "I’ll get some more items that we might need and get some information."  
Shouyou nodded in his direction, but noticed how Akaashi’s eyes darkened somewhat. "Alright ... uh?"  
"We should go to the tavern and see if anyone can help us," Akaashi said, turning his head back, "come over there when you’re done."  
"Hm, sure," Iwaizumi replied, waving a little, "take care of yourself."  
Shouyou watched him a little more astonished before finally silently following Akaashi. At least he probably couldn’t get lost in this huge city without him. At least he hoped so.  
"You don’t trust us," Kageyama said after a while walking through the city.  
"No," Akaashi replied without turning to look at them.  
"So you’re only doing this for him here," Kageyama growled, pointing with a hand to Shouyou, even if Akaashi didn’t turn to them.  
"He looks innocent enough," Akaashi said, shrugging his shoulders, pausing just outside the door with a tavern sign on the wall, "and Hinata seems to trust you, so I won’t say anything."  
"Hmpf," Kageyama replied and narrowed his eyes, but said nothing further and then followed the other inside.  
Shouyou swallowed when he saw the tense atmosphere between them. So they certainly wouldn’t be able to travel together, although it would certainly not be a bad thing to have Akaashi with them. "Hey, we all have the same goal, so why not fight together?" He asked with a big grin as they settled at the bar.  
"Let’s see," murmured Akaashi, leaning on the counter, "we can work together safely for now."  
"New allies, Keiji-kun?" A cheerful, feminine voice came to them, whereupon Akaashi turned his head.  
"Something like that," he shrugged, "they’re looking for a magician who can train Hinata here. Any suggestions, Yukie?"  
Shouyou looked at the bartender, who tilted her head a little thoughtfully. "I guess everyone from Nekoma falls away, otherwise you could have found what you were looking for in Karasuno," she replied to herself, causing Kageyama to snort a little.  
"Yaku is not an alternative unless we know which side he is on," he said, shaking his head violently.  
"How about this team moving across the country and helping the weaker, Keiji-kun?" Yukie replied with a smile, "You know who I mean, right?"  
Akaashi looked up and finally nodded. "Right, one of them is a magician. But nobody knows where they are because they move around so much."  
Shouyou looked at him in surprise. Who was Akaashi talking about who could help him? Who was this team that moved across the country?  
"Sorry, I can’t help you there either," Yukie said, stroking her hair back, "they were here, but it was four or five days ago."  
" _If it’s a magician, you could try to track him down, Shouyou,_ " he heard his friend’s voice, whereupon Shouyou’s eyes widened slightly. How should he do it when he needed it to learn to use his magic?  
" _Do you remember Nekomata-sensei’s words? You have it, you just have to do it and I’m still here to help you._ "  
"Uh ... maybe I can find this magician somehow or something?" Shouyou finally murmured, even if he still wasn’t sure how to do it. But maybe Kenma could really help him somehow, as Nekomata had said?  
"You want to track him down even though you have no idea what you’re doing?" Kageyama replied, looking at him with an raised eyebrow.  
"Better than guessing where they are, isn’t it?" Shouyou said, looking at him more directly.  
"Do you think you can, Hinata?" Akaashi asked, looking at him a little doubtfully, "after all, you are still a novice."  
"I want to try it," Shouyou said, nodding, "uh ... the question is, how do I start?"  
Yukie giggled in front of him, placing a hand over her mouth. "I heard magicians locate someone by repeating the other person’s name in their head?" Then she smiled a little more. "His name is Udai Tenma if it helps you."  
Shouyou nodded and then clutched his wand to feel a little more of the magic, as Yaku had told him, before concentrating and repeating the name in his mind. Was it just that, or hadn’t he heard that name somewhere before? But in what context again?  
" _Concentrate,_ " he heard Kenma whisper softly so that he gripped the staff a little more and noticed shortly afterwards how Kenma also put his hands around the staff and touched Shouyou a little.  
Shouyou swallowed. He had to do it somehow if everyone told him he could, he just had to figure out how to do it.  
He widened his eyes when a blurry picture appeared in front of him and he felt like he was in a strange room again with no one else but him and Kenma.  
" _Hey, interesting maneuver,_ " he heard an amused voice that Shouyou felt familiar before seeing a person with slightly longer, wavy black hair appear in front of him. The one wore a simple t-shirt and shorts. He also held a dark brown wand.  
"What– who ..." Shouyou murmured in surprise.  
"You called me, didn’t you?" the other grinned, crossing his arms behind his head, holding his staff with one hand.  
"Ah you are ... Udai Tenma-san?" Shouyou asked, looking at him more than confused, "it worked?"  
"Newbie, what?" Tenma replied, cocking his head, "is there any reason you called me?"  
"Ah, I ... I’m looking for someone to teach me magic, that’s why ..." Shouyou muttered to himself.  
"And you want me to do that?" Tenma asked and sighed, but then grinned, "I think there’s nothing wrong with us meeting somewhere. Where are you?"  
"Oh ... in Fukuroudani," Shouyou said, somewhat surprised, "th- thank you! That would be really nice if you do that!"  
"Your name is Hinata Shouyou, huh," Tenma murmured after a brief moment in which he had looked at him, "it can take a day or two to get there."  
"Oh, no problem, I think," Shouyou said, grinning, "thanks again!"  
"You are interesting, Shouyou," Tenma giggled to himself, "So until then!"  
Before Shouyou could react, he blinked and was back in the tavern, but looked up in surprise when he saw that he had his head on Kageyama’s lap. "Wha–what?" He mumbled and blinked, sat up and stared at the other, "what happened?!"  
"You passed out," Kageyama grumbled, rolling his eyes, "honestly, learn to control your magic like this without you falling over."  
"I didn’t -" Shouyou growled, turning his head to the side, "... we’re alone?"  
"We are in a room above the bar, Akaashi is probably out with his comrades," Kageyama said and sighed, "and he said it is better that you don‘t stay alone. Even if you could definitely be less cuddly!"  
"Hey, not my fault!" Shouyou growled, just looking in a different direction, "... by the way, I reached this Tenma and he said he would come here the next few days." It was probably better if he switched the subject quickly to something else and it was more important that they went one step further.  
Kageyama snorted and Shouyou saw out of the corner of his eye how he leaned back. "After all, you managed that."


	13. Chapter 12

Two days later he blinked in surprise when he left the tavern and looked straight into the faces of a group of three.  
Shouyou slowly widened his eyes when he saw Tenma and his companions so directly. He had had the feeling of knowing him from somewhere before, only he hadn’t noticed it very well in this magical intermediate world - or whatever that was.  
"Oh, you really are a sweetie, Shouyou-chan!" the woman next to Tenma said, with a sword tied on her back. She had short blond hair and a piercing on the nose.  
"Saeko ..." the man next to her murmured, who had thrown a bow and had a little darker hair.  
"Uh, hi!" Shouyou grinned slightly embarrassed, holding back not to scream, even though he noticed Kenma looking at him from the side.  
" _You’re just excited that the little giant is teaching you, right?_ "  
"You really have something on you, Shouyou," Tenma said with a big grin, "oh, that’s my two teammates, Tanaka Saeko and Tsukishima Akiteru!"  
Shouyou nodded to them. Not that he didn’t know them anyway, but he knew it was better to play innocent if he didn’t know them here. "Glad to meet you! I’m Hinata Shouyou! Even ... if you probably already know that?"  
"Tenma told us about you," Saeko said with a broad grin, "and we’ll leave you two alone now!"  
"Let’s go to a place where we can practice undisturbed," Tenma said, crossing his arms behind his head, turning away, "you have a spirit that follows you, right?"  
Shouyou followed with a nod. "Uh, yes, but ... it’s more ..."  
"It is rare for a young magician to have a spirit," Tenma said, interrupting him, "but your soul is still so pure and innocent. That spirit must have chosen you because of that."  
Shouyou looked up in surprise as he continued to follow him. "Actually ... it’s more my friend who accompanies me here and I don’t know if ..."  
"Ah, wait, Shouyou!" Tenma interrupted him and finally stopped at a small practice area where there were a few wooden dolls on the side that looked more like they were being used for sword exercises. "When we met in this magic world, I wasn’t sure, but you’re the hero of the legend."  
It didn’t sound like a question why Shouyou winced a little. "What?"  
"A sun boy from another world should save us from the demons," Tenma murmured to himself, "but a shadow surrounds him. Oikawa is not your final boss, Shouyou."  
Shouyou widened his eyes a little more as he glanced aside to Kenma, who looked at him just as amazed. Slowly he turned his head back to Tenma. "What ... do you know anything about what I have to do?"  
Tenma just smiled at him and reached for his magic wand. "I can’t tell you who your real opponent is. We all only know that Oikawa is the most powerful right now. You have to find out everything else yourself."  
Shouyou swallowed, but nodded understandably. "Thanks anyway, Tenma-san," he said, looking at him with a big smile, "besides, that’s not why you’re here, is it?" He didn’t want to learn about his real job, he wanted to know first how he could fight so that nobody would suffer because of him anymore. The fact that he couldn’t protect Kenma or save him alone was part of why he wanted to learn because he didn’t want anything to happen to his friends. After all, who knew what would happen to them if they died here in this world?  
"Have you ever tried to collect and release energies with your spirit?" Tenma asked, moving his staff slightly in front of him.  
Shouyou swallowed, cocked his head slightly. "So far, it has only helped me a little to focus more on it."  
"Yeah, it’s kind of like that," Tenma replied calmly and smiled, turning in the direction of the free space in front of them and holding his staff in front of him, making sure that a breeze passed and a little straw from the side to them blew. "There are different types of spells that you can learn to use. Wind spells are simple because you can use the normal wind to control it."  
Shouyou watched him silently and with wide eyes as he watched Tenma. "It looks too easy for you ..."  
"It’s easy if you collect your energies enough and use your staff to steer them outside," Tenma said and giggled a little, "the wood of this staff ... it’s an element that only Nekoma has, right?"  
Shouyou blinked briefly at him as he fixed his eyes on the wand for a moment. "Yaku gave it to me."  
"Then it should definitely help you," Tenma said calmly, turning to the side and shortly afterwards causing a few simple bubbles to blow out of his wand before he let a small flame appear in front of him, "Water magic is more difficult to do learn when there is no normal water nearby. The best thing we can do is look for a watering hole where we can practice. Fire magic is simple, but just as dangerous."  
Shouyou nodded, clutched his wand, and noticed Kenma also put his hands on it. Shortly thereafter, he made the straw and a few leaves in front of them move across the square. "Huh?"  
"You see, actually simple," Tenma said, giggling, "by the way, there is also ice magic and lightning magic. Oh and of course light and darkness. But that’s a little more special." Tenma sighed for a moment before turning to him. "You’re worried that you can’t save your spirit next time, can you?"  
Shouyou looked up in surprise and nodded vigorously. "I - someone helped me back then."  
"It’s something that costs energy and a lot of concentration, but if you master it, you can also use it as an attack," Tenma said calmly, "the more you are connected to your spirit, the more you can send it to energy - or he you. Let’s do a meditation exercise for that. You will notice that this gives you a completely different connection to your spirit."

–*–

Shouyou had no idea how long he had been alone with Tenma, only at some point he noticed that it was getting dark.  
"It’s pretty late ..." Tenma murmured, looking up at the sky above them as he stretched, "we should break up for today and eat something."  
Shouyou blinked a little at him, about to protest because he didn’t feel like making much progress, but his stomach growled at the moment so he turned his head slightly ashamed. "Uh, sure."  
"Don’t worry, you’ll get better if you just use it," Tenma replied, giving him a big smile, "Tomorrow we’ll see that we can find some smaller monsters to fight against."  
Shouyou winced and widened his eyes, looked at Tenma. "Are you really sure that I am ready for this?" He had managed one or two magic spells, but being in a real fight was also something else.  
"First of all, a real fight helps you more to use your magic against an opponent in a controlled manner," Tenma said with a grin, "and I also realize that you are really good at it, even if it may not feel like it to you."  
Shouyou sighed, but then nodded and went with Tenma to the tavern, where they should meet up with the others and have something to eat.  
It was already well filled inside the tavern and Shouyou was really happy that Tenma was pulling him through the crowds to a sitting area.  
"Heeey Chibi, how did it go?" He heard Saeko first, half hanging on Akiteru’s lap and holding a beer mug, "was Tenma a good teacher?"  
"Sae-chan," Tenma murmured while pushing Shouyou into a chair, "Aki, did she get drunk again?"  
"What do you think," Akiteru replied, looking at him with a smile.  
"I’m not drunk~", Saeko grumbled and put her arms around Akiteru.  
"Of course not," Tenma waved and then made sure to wave one of the waiters over to them so that he could order something to eat, "behave yourself, Sae-chan."  
Shouyou grinned slightly, then looked around. "Where are Iwaizumi and Kageyama?"  
"They were training outside during the day," Akiteru replied calmly to him.  
Shouyou nodded and leaned back a little. He really wondered if he wasn’t just stopping them because he still had so much to learn. He knew that he was no real help and rather held them back. Without him, they would probably be on their way to Oikawa long ago, wouldn’t they?  
"Shouyou, don’t think, eat!" Tenma pulled him out of his thoughts and grinned at him when Shouyou blinked a little surprised at him, "at least now! You’ve been exhausting yourself, so you should be eating properly now, understand?"  
Shouyou nodded vigorously, then looked at the food on the table, grinned, and then did what Tenma wanted him to do. "Thanks Tenma-san!"


	14. Chapter 13

The morning of the next day, right after breakfast, he was in the area outside the city walls with Tenma.  
Shouyou swallowed when he saw some smaller creatures scurrying through the forest, but they showed no signs of being interested in them. He hadn’t seen Iwaizumi or Kageyama last night or in the morning, but he wasn’t particularly concerned about it. After all, the two were already experienced warriors and would appear again. He was probably just stopping them from getting on anyway.  
"You’re not at it, Shouyou," Tenma said, patting his shoulder a little more gently, "that’s fatal if that happens to you in a fight."  
"Sorry!" Shouyou replied and bowed a little more, Tenma grinned crookedly, "I ... it’s just ..."  
"Take care of your surroundings," Tenma interrupted him and shortly afterwards Shouyou saw only the other hurling a fireball past him and a small creature that looked like a cat, but with black wings and two, instead of one, tail, brought to flee.  
Shouyou looked in the direction of the creature that was now running away from them. "What was that?"  
"A demon," Tenma murmured and sighed, sinking his hands into the pockets of his coat, "a little one. Maybe he wanted to show Oikawa what he could do by surprising a magician like you."  
Shouyou swallowed, gripped his staff a little more, then turned in the direction of the forest, looking around. "You mean ..."  
"Many demons that roam freely want to show their power to -", Tenma said, but stopped when a low growl came to them, "- show me what you can do, Shouyou."  
Shouyou blinked in surprise at the dark green creature that came up to them. The claws were clearly visible from the paws, while the tail was up and whipped briefly through the air. The ears were pointed in the air and a silver collar hung around the neck.  
" _You can do it, Shouyou,_ " he heard Kenma’s voice and gave his friend a quick glance, nodded and concentrated on his strength, clutching his staff a little more.  
A gust of wind rose and blew over the creature, which raised its head slightly, growled and whipped its tail through the air.  
"Try to aim, Shouyou," Tenma said next to him.  
Shouyou swallowed, nodded, and concentrated a little more on the creature, noticing a violent blast of air moving towards the creature and hurling it against the nearest tree. "Huh ...?"  
"Oh, not bad for a beginner."  
Shouyou blinked and raised his head, looking at the person who came up to them. The person was a good deal taller than he or Tenma and was wearing a dark blue magic robe and a pointed black hat. Below you could see part of the blonde hair. A crow was sitting on his shoulder.  
"What are you doing here, Kei?" Tenma asked, his eyes darkening for a moment as he pushed in front of Shouyou and shielded him, "Oikawa sending you?"  
"... Why should he take care of him? He has more important things to do," the other shrugged, "the hero of the legend? Looks more like a little weakling to me. I should kill him before Kuroo-san spots him."  
Shouyou grimaced and clutched his staff. He knew he hadn’t really got a chance against a magician from Oikawa’s realm yet. Besides, Tenma wouldn’t protect him so directly if it was different. So Tsukishima was also one of Oikawa’s entourage?  
"If you want to get to Shouyou, you have to get me out of the way first," Tenma replied, staring at him darkly, "do you really want to risk this fight?"  
Tsukishima raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "I’d rather wait until this chibi comes to us. I’m not interested in fighting with you right now, Tenma."  
"Then why are you here?" Tenma asked with a threatening undertone, "certainly not just for that."  
"I wanted to know who this young magician Yachi found was," Tsukishima murmured, then waved away, "apparently she’s right, no particular danger. Even if it seems that he’s getting stronger."  
"I will defeat you!", Shouyou hissed at him, past Tenma, "I will defeat Oikawa, rely on it!"  
"What?" Tsukishima replied, grinning broadly at him, "Listen, little one, you should first hope that you can make it to Oikawa at all. Ah~ I should tell Kuroo-san that I found someone who could be their newest toy."  
Shouyou blinked when, shortly thereafter, he could only look at the place where Tsukishima had been before, as he had more or less vanished shortly thereafter. "What ...?"  
"You’re far from ready to mess with any of them," Tenma said, sighing, turning to look at him, "and beware of Kuroo. He is probably the only one of Oikawa who Kei really follows."  
Shouyou looked at him in amazement. "How ... how do you even know him?"  
Tenma eyed him, but then shook his head and put his hands on Shouyou’s shoulders. "Keep it to yourself that we met him, right? Aki ... still reproaches himself for not being able to stop him from joining Kuroo."  
Shouyou swallowed, but nodded. He just didn’t know what to think anyway. But it was probably not the right time to think about it anyway. "Let’s continue training." It was all he could do right now. "Kageyama and Iwaizumi are probably waiting for me to be ready to leave."  
"Of course," Tenma said, giving him a big smile, "let’s go ahead."

For the next few hours, Shouyou really felt that he could defeat the smaller creatures that were coming. Tenma was right that it was easier to use magic when you had a target to fight against.  
He was sitting on a bench with Tenma near the city entrance of Fukuroudani while he bit into a loaf of bread. "Tenma-san? Where ... why are Iwaizumi and Kageyama not here?"  
"Hmmm," Tenma made a little more thoughtful noise, "probably they are training somewhere?"  
"You should forget them, Hinata," Akaashi’s voice came to him shortly afterwards, whereupon he noticed that the Beast Tamer sat down next to him.  
"Why? We are comrades, aren’t we?", Shouyou murmured somewhat questioningly and now lowered his eyes, "we are a team ..."  
"You think the two are your comrades?" Akaashi asked.  
"Why not?" Shouyou replied, turning his gaze to him, "why are you so suspicious of them?"  
"They were Oikawas ..." Akaashi started, shaking his head and stroking one of his owls over the wing instead, "... what makes you so sure that they switched sides?"  
Shouyou swallowed and looked at his staff. Could he be so sure? But hadn’t they also worried about him and taken care of him? Why shouldn’t Iwaizumi and Kageyama be on his side?  
For a moment his thoughts went back to Yaku and what Nekomata had told him. Yaku was probably not entirely on their side either, although he had got the staff from him to help control his powers.  
His eyes slid back to Akaashi. Could he trust anyone if he didn’t know so many things? What did Iwaizumi and Kageyama hide from their past?  
"How do I know that I can trust someone, if not those who accepted me as their comrades?" Shouyou finally asked and looked at the beast master more seriously, "then I wouldn’t know if I ... or whom also ... can trust. But I want to trust you. I want to trust them."  
"I think you can trust them, Shouyou," Tenma said quietly, giving him a big smile, "even if I understand Akaashi’s concerns. I don’t think they’re still on Oikawa’s side."  
"Hm," Akaashi started a little more thoughtfully, "well. I will go with you, Hinata. I’m sure these two are somewhere deeper in the forest in front of Fukuroudani."  
"What?" Shouyou asked surprised, staring at him wide-eyed, "you want ... to come with us?"  
Akaashi shrugged. "Do not get me wrong. I am doing this to help you and to defeat Oikawa."  
"Oh, sure!" Shouyou finally said enthusiastically, "but that’s comforting when you’re there, Akaashi!"


	15. Chapter 14

It was in the middle of the night when Shouyou woke up and blinked a little at his friend who was looking out the window of their room.  
"Kenma? What’s going on?", He asked and rubbed his eyes, slowly straightened up and came up to him.  
" _I don’t know exactly ..._ " Kenma said without turning to him. His eyes were still on what was happening outside.  
Shouyou raised an eyebrow, then looked out of the window next to Kenma and into the square below them of the city.  
Outside was Tenma, dressed in a magician’s robe, while he was enveloped in a strange mist. His two companions were standing nearby.  
"What do you mean, Tenma?" Saeko asked, crossing her arms in front of her and leaning against a lantern.  
"Someone is spying on us," Tenma said with a haunted look while a dark blue shadow hung over him, "I didn’t tell Shouyou so he didn’t have to worry, but ..."  
"You think Iwaizumi and Kageyama are in Seijoh?" Akiteru interrupted.  
"Why should they leave the little one alone?" Saeko asked more skeptically, "they didn’t look like this -",  
Tenma then turned and made his girlfriend stop. "Kei got me on it. Or rather ... we all suspect that Yaku was looking for something like a protection point in Karasuno so that he could work undisturbed, right?"  
"You met Kei? When," Akiteru started, then lowered his eyes, "... but you’re right."  
"When we had this training," Tenma replied calmly, "I think Yaku is spying on us."  
" _Nekomata also thinks that Yaku is not entirely on our side._ "  
Shouyou was confused for a brief moment when he heard Kenma’s voice next to him so that he turned his head away from the others and looked at the ghost next to him. "But ... what ...", his eyes slid slowly to the staff he had received from Yaku. He was helping him control his magic better all the time. But what if the others were right about Yaku relaying information to their enemies?  
"What do you think where Iwaizumi and Kageyama are?", Saeko’s question made Shouyou look outside again and turn his attention to the group of three.  
"Either they went on their way without him, training in the deeper corners of the forest or in Seijoh ..." Tenma murmured to himself, "... or they were surprised by someone."  
"You assume someone could take them prisoner," Akiteru replied, looking at him more seriously.  
"I’m thinking it’s Kuroo or someone from this underlings," Tenma said then, "when we got here I felt something that reminded me of him, but I wasn’t sure. After the thing ... he also comes from Nekoma, even if he is exiled."  
"If that’s the case," Saeko murmured and straightened up a little more, "we can’t let Shouyou-chan go alone, can we? Even if Akaashi has a certain strength and a beast tamer is certainly useful."  
Tenma smiled and nodded. "But I am against going to Seijoh. I also have another idea."  
"What kind?" Akiteru asked.  
"Let’s go to Nekoma," Tenma said calmly and turned to his companions, looking at them, "Shouyou would it probably help if the leader of Nekoma could teach him a few more tricks."  
"Nobody knows where Nekoma is!" Saeko replied somewhat louder, "it could take days until we have found the village."  
"We have Shouyous Spirit," Tenma said, smiling, "Kenma. He’s a magician from Nekoma, right?"  
"Isn’t this spirit just a person from the world of the little one?" Akiteru asked, "how should he know the way to Nekoma?"  
Tenma sighed deeply as he looked up at them. "I don’t know, but maybe he still has something that can help us."  
Shouyou looked back to the ghost beside him. "Kenma?" How should his friend know about a place that only the people of this world knew from Nekoma?  
" _They trust me to know it?_ "  
Shouyou swallowed and examined Kenma, who had lowered his eyes a little. "Maybe ... you do have it somewhere in you? Maybe you unconsciously know where to go when we’re around?"  
"Ah, so you’re awake, Chibi!"  
Shouyou stared in shock and in front of the window, stumbled backwards and found himself on his behind shortly afterwards. "Whaaaa– Bokuto-san ?!" Or at least the person on the windowsill looked like Bokuto, only that he had two white-gray, large wings that stretched outward, while his wrists, which he held half to the frame, each had a feather headdress made of two or three feathers of the same kind.  
"So you listened?" Bokuto grinned broadly at him.  
Shouyou blinked too confused to see the other one in front of him while he could just nod in confusion.  
"That makes it easier," Tenma said, as he hovered in the air behind Bokuto and looked at him, "so you know that we are going to accompany you and want to go to Nekoma." His eyes turned a little to one side, saw little in the room. "I really hope your spirit can help us with this, Shouyou."  
Shouyou swallowed but nodded and turned his head to look at Kenma. "I can not promise anything."  
" _I ... maybe I can feel it when we’re there?_ "  
Shouyou noticed that his friend was not exactly confident, but he just grinned broadly at him. "I know you don’t know about this world, either, but ... I’m sure we’ll make it. Together. I will help you as best I can as you will help me, Kenma!"  
" _Shouyou ..._ " Kenma murmured next to him and looked at him in astonishment, then smiled and nodded, " _yes, we can do it together._ "


	16. Chapter 15

They hadn’t waited too long to leave together, even if it was still in the middle of the night.  
It was now the brightest day anyway, and Shouyou knew he should feel better. Saeko, Akiteru and Tenma ran in front of him as they cleared the way a little and put a few smaller creatures to flight, while Akaashi ran behind him with his two owls and watched him most of the time.  
He felt protected in a way, only the surroundings made him feel tense.  
The forest they were in was supposed to lead somewhere to the village of Nekoma, even if none of them knew where it was. Except for Kenma maybe, but Shouyou noticed that his friend didn’t feel any vibrations or anything like that, which might steer them in the right direction.  
" _I’m slowly beginning to doubt that I have any contact with Nekoma,_ " Kenma said to him with a depressed tone, " _so it wasn’t the right thing to trust that -_ ",  
"Stop it, Kenma," Shouyou interrupted, turning his head to the side of his friend, giving him a smile while he stopped for a moment, "don’t pull yourself down, yes? We knew it wasn’t safe that you knew anything at all. We’ll find a way if you can’t."  
"Well spoken, sun hero," Tenma said, grinning sideways at him.  
Shouyou blinked and felt him blush a little, turning his head away from the other. "Don’t call me that." As if he was anything like a hero.  
" _Thank you Shouyou._ " Surprised, he looked back at Kenma, who was smiling at him again. " _For your words._ "  
"Su- sure," Shouyou replied a little more embarrassed as he looked at Kenma. Why did Kenma have to look so cute when he smiled at him so calmly? "We should go on."  
He was relieved when his companions said nothing but just kept walking. He really didn’t want to think about it right now. Especially not to think about things that were absolutely secondary at the moment.  
"Shouyou, be careful!"  
He looked forward, startled, when he saw Akaashi standing in front of him and catching something with his staff.  
"Who are you?" The voice that came to them was threatening and underpinned with a loud hiss, while someone with pointed brown cat ears appeared in front of them, wearing a dark brown magic robe with a yellow border. His hood was thrown back as he held a magic wand in front of him with a gem glowing on it.  
"Who are you that you are attacking us?" Tenma asked the other the question, embracing his own staff, looking at the kitten boy in front of them.  
Shouyou looked back and forth between the stranger - somehow he reminding him of Inuoka - and Tenma before slowly taking a step towards the others. "Uh ... we are–",  
"What did you do with Kenma?" Inuoka hissed angrily and continued to hiss, "why is he -", he stopped and shook his head, "- Nekomata-sensei. Are you the boy he meant?"  
Shouyou blinked in surprise when he saw Inuoka relax a little and only looked at him more skeptically.  
"We’re looking for the head of Nekoma," Tenma interfered and put away his magic wand, "you’re from the village, right? Can you help us?"  
Inuoka looked a little between Shouyou and the others. "You come from further away just to find Nekoma? Even though you know that nobody knows the way there?"  
"We were hoping that Shouyous Spirit could help us," Tenma said calmly, "can you help us?"  
"My magic isn’t enough for that," Inuoka shook his head, "- however, with Kenma’s help, I could make sure that he can at least visit Nekomata-sensei." His eyes turned to Shouyou more seriously.  
"Where’s Nekoma located?" Akaashi asked, eyeing the other a little more thoughtfully, "if you need your magic for that."  
"In a place that nobody can enter easily," Inuoka replied.  
"I’m a magician too, maybe," Tenma started.  
"Only a magician from Nekoma has this opportunity," Inuoka said, sighing, smiling at them, then turned to Shouyou, "shall we try? Your spirit will help you."  
"All right," Shouyou nodded, turning briefly to the others, "uh ..."  
"We are waiting for you here, Shou-chan," Saeko grinned at him, "if that’s the only way, you should use it."  
"Touch my staff," Inuoka said, looking him in the eye as he stepped in front of him, "and concentrate, both of you."  
Shouyou nodded resolutely, embraced the staff together with Kenma that Inuoka was holding in front of him, and just looked at him.  
There was a moment of concentration when he just looked at the other as the environment around Shouyou changed.  
A strange blue-purple mist spread around him and he felt something pull him to the ground as if an enormous weight was spreading over his body.  
" _Shouyou!_ " He heard Kenma’s voice again, but shortly afterwards everything around him was black.


	17. Chapter 16

His head boomed as he slowly came to his sense. He remembered Inuoka and the other’s magic, but otherwise he felt completely weak.  
Besides, where was he? And ... where was Kenma? Why couldn’t he feel his friend?  
He opened his eyes and tried to see something to move, but only noticed how something held him. "What ... where am I?"  
"Did you really think I would just let you into Nekoma?"  
Shouyou blinked and recognized Yaku sitting a little way away from him in a larger armchair while he wore a magician’s robe in black with a dark red rim. A black cat was curled up on his lap.  
"What ... Yaku ...- san?", He asked irritated, "where, why can’t I move?"  
"My magic is holding you," Yaku replied, just looking at him calmly.  
So the others were right that Yaku wasn’t on their side?  
He swallowed and turned his head briefly to the side, looked back at Yaku. "Kenma. Where’s ... where’s Kenma?"  
"Kenma?" Yaku asked, raising an eyebrow briefly, "Oh, you mean your spirit. You won’t be able to contact him here, Shouyou."  
"So you’re really ... not on our side," Shouyou murmured to himself a little more, "what exactly do you want? Why are you deceiving everyone?"  
Yaku just grinned at him and stroked the cat a little on his lap. "See through a bit late, right, Shouyou?"  
Shouyou swallowed and lowered his eyes a little. Tenma, Saeko and Akiteru had previously been suspected him.  
"In case you’re wondering how I could get you," Yaku said, turning his eyes back to the other, "I took advantage of the magical leap it takes to get to Nekoma. It would have been better for you if you were out with Iwaizumi and Kageyama."  
"Nah, it would be less fun for us, Yakkun."  
Shouyou jumped violently when he felt someone stroking his neck and seemingly stepping behind him. "What–",  
"I’m just saying what it’s like, Kuroo," Yaku shrugged as the cat on his lap raised his head and looked straight at Shouyou. The cat’s eyes glowed a fairly bright, brilliant yellow.  
"Kenma definitely chose something sweet to avenge his death," he heard Kuroo softly, even though Shouyou couldn’t see the other, now that Yaku had spoken to him, he recognized the other a little by his voice, "honestly ... that he was even able to do that."  
"What- what do you want from me?" Shouyou asked, swallowing a little harder.  
"How about your magical power? Your life energy?", Kuroo started a little questioningly, "... I could imagine a few things I want from you, little hero of the sun."  
"It is enough!"  
Shouyou flinched violently as the voice echoed right in his ears, but noticed that the magic with which Yaku had held him was waning a little.  
"Damn it," Yaku hissed, sitting up, making the cat disappear into the shadows behind him.  
"Hmph, it was just so nice," Kuroo grumbled and moved to Yaku, glanced at Shouyou and just grinned at him, "then we have to wait until you come to me, not, little hero of the sun?"  
"I really don’t understand how you could betray us like that, Morisuke."  
Shouyou swallowed and noticed Nekomata appear next to him, although he had his gaze forward.  
"What a nice reunion, Nekomata-san~", Kuroo grinned at the other.  
"I don’t think we should continue this here, Nekomata _-sensei_ ," Yaku replied with a much darker tone.  
"I think so too," Nekomata nodded before turning to Shouyou, "come on, you wanted to see Nekoma. Let’s go."  
"Bye, bye, little hero of the sun," he heard Kuroo’s exhilarating voice before he let Nekomata pull him along, "I’m waiting for you in the demon castle. Don’t take too much time if you don’t want something to happen to your friends. Of course it is not in my power what Oikawa does to them."  
Shouyou widened his eyes, turned back to Kuroo and Yaku, but noticed shortly afterwards how Nekomata pulled him through his magic and they were standing in the middle of a village. What did Kuroo mean with his friends? "Nekomata-san ...?"  
"I am amazed that you made it to Nekoma without knowing where it was," Nekomata said calmly to him and led him to a large tent, gesturing for him to enter.  
Inside, Nekomata sat down on a mat and motioned for Shouyou to do the same, which is why he sat on another mat.  
Shouyou slowly turned his head to the side and finally looked back at Nekomata. "Where- where’s Kenma?" Since he was imprisoned by Yaku’s magic, he couldn’t feel his friend for any reason. He thought it would be normal when he leave this magical world, but he still didn’t feel him.  
"I’m sorry, I couldn’t save you and look for him at the same time," Nekomata said, sighing sadly, shaking his head a little, "but Morisuke probably caught him too, so you can’t support yourself. You will have to find a way to save him."  
"But how? And ... where?" Shouyou asked and swallowed hard. A different boss than Oikawa. Was Yaku his final boss? He swallowed as he thought about what Tenma had ultimately told him.  
"Your way leads you to Seijoh, to Oikawa’s demon castle," Nekomata said with a serious look, "There you will find your comrades and you should find a way to save Kenma."  
"Wouldn’t you just have-" Shouyou murmured a little more thoughtfully.  
"Morisuke is stronger than I am," Nekomata replied, shaking his head again, "at least in the meantime. He has exceeded me long ago. He’s probably only held back because he and Tetsurou still have plans for you. A fight in this magical dimension would have hit you the most because you are the weakest of us."  
Shouyou swallowed hard and now lowered his eyes again. How would he stand against him if Nekomata couldn’t even defeat him anymore?  
"I’ll teach you everything I know, Shouyou," Nekomata said shortly afterwards and Shouyou looked at him when he saw the head of Nekoma rise, "I think we have five days. After that you are on your own."  
Shouyou nodded resolutely and then stood up too, clutching the wand with his hands. He swallowed when he thought that Yaku had given him this staff. How so? Why had he helped him?  
Nekomata put a hand on his shoulder and made Shouyou look at him again, whereupon he saw a smile on the head’s face. "Morisuke wasn’t always like that. Maybe he secretly hopes you will end it because he knows you are the hero of the legend," he sighed and looked aside, "maybe it is my fault that he turned out that way."  
Shouyou blinked up at him in surprise. "How so? What do you mean, Nekomata-san?"  
Nekomata did not answer directly, but first made sure with a short magic spell that they were in a part of a magical dimension before looking at him again. "Because I was the one who banished Tetsurou from Nekoma. Even if I had no other choice ..."  
Shouyou looked at him in surprise and with wide eyes, but then shook his head. He didn’t want to think about what it all meant when he has to learn his magic as quickly as possible to master it and then save his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm thinking of ... stop updating /writing at this for while bc ... i cant feel right about this... don't worry, i would finish it, but i can't write at the moment at this... (and i will not write at it when i don't feel like i can ... this should make me happy so ... i think its the best >___>)  
> sorry i do write some other projects but ... i cant say when i write at this again ;;


	18. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter :3  
> only bc i've been a bit motivated to write hq again?

After the five days, Shouyou blinked a little more surprised when they stood in the middle of the village again.  
It hadn’t felt like it was really that long, but he hadn’t had any sense of time in this magical dimension either. Even though they had apparently trained for so long, he didn’t feel as if he was exhausted from the training in any way.  
"You have done well, Shouyou," Nekomata said and turned to him, smiled at him and made a dark brown wooden staff appear in front of him. At the top shone a gemstone that looked as if it was rather transparent.  
"What... what is that," Shouyou asked as he slowly reached out his hand for the staff, because he had a vague feeling about it but didn’t dare to touch it.  
"A magic wand like the one that is only made in Nekoma," Nekomata said calmly, letting it float a bit in front of him, nodded to Shouyou, "it’s yours."  
Shouyou swallowed and now slowly grabbed the wand, grasped it with both hands and looked at the gemstone on it, which lit up more shortly afterwards. The color changed after a few seconds and it glowed more in a bright yellow. "What..."  
Nekomata smiled and gave a short laugh. "As befits the sun hero," he said calmly, "every magician gives his gemstone a color. This shows if you are worthy to possess a real magic wand from Nekoma."  
Surprised, Shouyou raised his head to the explanation before he beamed. "Thank you Nekomata-san!"  
"I hope you can save your friends with this and return safely, Shouyou," Nekomata said before looking a little more depressed at a small magic ball floating above his hands, "do whatever you have to do to save this world."  
With an astonished look, Shouyou looked at him, tilted his head and went to Nekomata, trying to see something in the magic ball. "Can I... do anything else to say thank you?"  
Nekomata just shook his head beside him and made the magic ball disappear. "You do more than enough. But if I could wish for something," he finally started slowly, "if you can prevent it, don’t let anyone else die."  
Shouyou swallowed, but nodded determinedly. He didn’t want anyone to die himself, no matter who. After all, in his world, they were all somehow connected by an invisible bond. No matter if they were friends or rivals. "I have no intention of watching anyone die either."  
"I can understand why you are the hero from the legend, Shouyou," Nekomata said and looked at him with a broad smile, "your soul is so innocent and pure. However, you should start slowly. Your comrades will not know about the five days, but you are running out of time."  
"What?" Shouyou asked in surprise, and looked at the other one.  
"For those outside the magical dimension in which we have trained, perhaps a few hours have passed. In Nekoma you won’t realize this, but once you’re outside you’ll see that it’s already dark," Nekomata said calmly smiling, "come, I should send you back slowly."  
He felt a tingling sensation creeping across his back as he held the new staff close to him. "What if Yaku-san ...", even if he didn’t think Nekomata would allow it, but he had been stopped and caught by the other magician on his way there.  
"Don’t worry, I don’t think Morisuke is waiting for you. Besides, you’re stronger now and I know how to bring you back unharmed," Nekomata replied with a smile, "if you want to give me something back, save him from that power. Him ... and Tetsurou."  
Shouyou couldn’t even answer when he already felt the magic of the head bringing him back. He stumbled forward a bit after the magic had faded and blinked in surprise at the campground where the others had settled down. The campfire in their midst lit up the area a little, while he now also noticed that it was much darker than inside the village.  
"So? How was it, Shouyou?" Tenma immediately asked and grinned at him from his seated position.  
"I think I’m ready," Shouyou muttered, clasping the magic wand a little more, putting his head back a little and looking up at the sky, or rather the treetops above them. He had to go to Seijoh and find Kenma.  
"Wow, what a beautiful staff!" Saeko said and a few seconds later he brought it back from his thoughts, "I didn’t think you would come back with something like that, Shou-chan!"  
"Nekomata-san trained me and then ...", Shouyou muttered and scratched the back of his head a little.  
"What happened to Kenma, Shouyou," Tenma asked and sat up a little more, turned his head towards him, "he’s not with you. Or am I imagining it?"  
Shouyou swallowed and lowered his gaze after all. "l- Yaku-san, he... he lurked for me before I could get to Nekoma," he murmured softly to himself, "I don’t know what happened to Kenma, but he’s probably still with him."  
"You should get some rest first," Akiteru replied, holding a skewer with a fried fish on it, "tomorrow we’ll leave and you can tell us everything."  
"Yes, thank you," Shouyou nodded and accepted the spit. He had not really felt hungry or thirsty within this magical dimension, but now he realized that he really needed to recharge his batteries. It was probably a good idea if he rested for a while and they could get a fresh start tomorrow.


	19. Chapter 18

Shouyou didn’t know if he felt more determined when they left the next day, but something was different.  
Maybe it was just this thought that he didn’t know what was going on with Kenma and wanted him back with him.  
But maybe he really felt stronger after training with Nekomata. At least it felt like he could control and use his powers better.  
"You have a different charisma, Shouyou," Tenma said and stepped next to him, grinning at him from the side, "... more determined."  
Shouyou looked at him with a short sideways glance and smiled at him a little weaker. "I don’t know, but... I feel I shouldn’t take my time."  
"Sounds good," Akaashi murmured and stepped on the other side next to him, "but you should still be careful. This area around Oikawas Demon Castle is a lot more dangerous than anything you’ve seen before."  
"I suppose so," Shouyou continued to say resolutely while clasping his staff with one hand, "but I will not be held back this time. I must go to Kenma."  
"All right, Shou-chan," Saeko said and put a hand on his shoulder, "we will find your friend and save him."  
"Hey, hey, aren’t you the little guy I saw in the woods that time?"  
Shouyou blinked in surprise and looked in front of him, gazing at a person squatting on the ground while a bushy yellow tail swung to the side. His pointed ears were black at the tips, while his eyes sparkled brownish. "What...?"  
"Do you want to mess with us?" Akaashi asked and took a step forward, shielding Shouyou a bit, "we are in a hurry."  
"Hm, I don’t feel like fighting right now," the fox murmured and grinned a little, stroking his cheek with one hand before he stroked back one of his ears, "are you on your way to Oikawa?"  
"Possible?" Akaashi replied calmly back, "would you stop us then?"  
"I have nothing to do with the conflict, I belong only to a simple nomadic tribe," the fox said and tilted his head, "I have only met him once before." He turned his head back in Shouyou‘s direction and indicated a nod. "Don’t you remember?"  
"You’re one of the thieves roaming around Fukuroudani," Akaashi said with a raised eyebrow, "go on, get lost."  
"Ph", the fox went and snorted, "I’m talking to Chibi here."  
"I... you... you attacked us back then," Shouyou asked in surprise, "why?"  
"Ah~ my leader was pretty pissed off about it ...", the fox murmured and now he stood up, stepped towards Shouyou, "say, you wouldn’t happen to be interested in my abilities?"  
"We don’t need a petty thief," Akaashi said and turned to him.  
"Mean, tamer," the fox growled and turned his head back for a moment before he looked at Shouyou again, "I could help you get into Oikawa’s demon castle, Chibi."  
Shouyou blinked in surprise into the eyes of the other who kept looking at him. Something about him made him feel uncomfortable, but at the same time he had this feeling that maybe he could really help them. "Uh... okay? I mean, we can always use allies, right?"  
"Hinata!," Akaashi said a little louder before he cleared his throat, "you really shouldn’t just trust everyone."  
"Well, but when Shou-chan says yes," Saeko shrugged her shoulders, "he is something like our leader."  
"Wh-what?", Shouyou asked in shock as he turned to the others, "I am not ... why should I be our leader?"  
"Well, I accept you as my new leader, Chibi-chan," the fox said and grinned at him broadly, "Oh, my name is Miya Atsumu."  
"I agree, too," Tenma said with a smile, "besides, we’re following you for now anyway."  
"I have no objections either and besides, Saeko is right," Akiteru replied and shrugged his shoulders, "you are already something like our leader anyway."  
"Fine, okay," Akaashi growled and sighed, "you decide, Hinata."  
"O-okay, if that’s the way you want it," Shouyou murmured and scratched the back of his head a little embarrassed, noticing the fox grinning at him from the side, "then I guess there’s nothing I can say against that."

It was not that anything had changed between them, even though he was now considered the leader of their group.  
What irritated Shouyou more was that this fox ran so close to him and blinked at him from the side. "Uh... Miya-san?"  
"Call me Atsumu, Chibi," the fox said with a broad grin and waved his tail in the air, "oh ... or should I call you Shouyou? I may call you that, right? Awww you’re so cute!"  
"Uh, okay... Atsumu?," Shouyou replied somewhat too perplexed about him without really knowing what else to say.  
"So you’re all on your way to Oikawa," Atsumu said and walked along calmly beside him, "didn’t you have other comrades before, Shouyou?"  
Shouyou flinched a bit when he asked him before he sighed, "I have no idea where Iwaizumi and Kageyama are."  
"First of all we are on our way to find his friend", Saeko said and turned her attention to the fox, "apparently he is being held captive somewhere there."  
Shouyou nodded a little more depressed. It felt so strange that he couldn’t feel Kenma anymore. Since they were in this world, his friend had always been with him, at his side, but now there was just nothing.  
"Hmmmm", Atsumu made and twitched his ears a little bit, changed into the shape of a fox shortly after and stretched his head a little to sniff at Shouyou before barking a little.  
Confused, Shouyou blinked, took a step to the side and stared at Atsumu, tilted his head. "What?"  
Atsumu put his tail to one side and changed back shortly after. "You smell different than then," he said then and walked beside him again.  
"What do you mean?" Shouyou asked and stared at him from the side.  
"You had another smell on you at that time, so something must have happened," Atsumu replied, tilting his head, "oh and it’s not because you seem stronger than you did then."  
"Oh, yes," Shouyou murmured a little more depressed.  
"You can perceive something that only magicians can do," Tenma asked a little more interested, "we are looking for his spirit."  
"Spirit?," Atsumu asked, shrugged his ears, "what exactly is that?" He slowly looked back at Shouyou. "I just notice he has a different smell and something’s missing."  
"Ah, never mind, forget it," Tenma waved off and grinned at him crookedly, moving back to Saeko and Akiteru.  
"We are looking for Kenma, who has been with me here from the beginning," Shouyou said now a little more depressed.  
"I see," Atsumu nodded to himself, then grinned broadly, "well then, let’s not waste any more time!"


	20. Chapter 19

Shouyou just hurled another fireball at one of his enemies while he noticed Atsumu next to him chasing away a demon with his claws.  
He wasn’t exactly sure when it had started, but from one moment to the next, they were surprised by these demons, which had different shapes and attacked them, so that they hardly had a real break.  
"This way we won’t get any further," Saeko said, while she smashed another Demon monster with her sword.  
"I can’t go on any longer," Shouyou replied and clasped his staff, looked to the side, "what is this?"  
"Probably they want to chase us away to prevent us from getting there," Akaashi muttered as he raised his gaze and looked to his two owls, each of which was chasing away another creature.  
"Well, Shouyou is the hero of the legend," Tenma muttered, causing a storm that hurled nearby enemies to the side before he concentrated briefly and built a shield to protect them from these attacks, "they want to prove themselves. For Oikawa."  
"But we won’t get anywhere like this," Shouyou said with a frustrating tone, dropped to the ground and blinked as Atsumu in his fox-like form lay down to him and bedded his head on his lap, "... I must go to Kenma..."  
"I could try to stop them with an illusion spell," Tenma said, looking a little more thoughtfully in Shouyou’s direction, "but you would have to hurry. I don’t know how long I can hold something like that."  
"You know that you could die from this," Saeko started and looked at him with a shocked look.  
Shouyou widened his eyes and looked at her, then looked at Tenma and shook his head. "What- no-!"  
"We need some way to get there," Tenma said and sighed, "Sae-chan, Aki, help Shouyou get into the castle, okay?"  
"Then you promise us that you won’t die, Tenma," Akiteru said with a serious look.  
"I can’t do that," Tenma began, but soon after, he noticed Akiteru leaning over and looking at him, "- what ..."  
"Promise us."  
"All right," Tenma said and smiled at him, "as soon as I start the spell, you’ll be on your way. I’ll see you there later."  
Shouyou winked at him, then nodded a little and felt Saeko put a hand on his shoulder.  
"If Tenma says he can do it, he can do it," Saeko said and grinned at him, "we’ll make sure you get to Oikawas Demon Castle."  
"So annoying."  
Before Shouyou could think about it any further, he blinked forward in surprise and looked at a person dressed in a dark green magic robe while the person had pulled a hood over his face. He held a glass bow in his hand and his eyes sparkled from under the hood.  
"What?", Tenma started and shrugged violently when he felt something hit him in the shoulder, moved one hand to the spot, "who- what have you done?"  
"A diversion so that this strange sun hero can enter the castle?", this quiet voice urged them, "interesting plan." He made a glowing arrow appear on his bow and tensed the string on it. "How about I finish you first? You are a powerful magician after all."  
"Dare and I’ll kill you", Saeko hissed and stepped in front of Tenma, clasping the handle of her sword, "Shou-chan, try to escape if you have the chance."  
"Huh?," the person in front of them giggled and released the arrow, "Oikawa-san is already waiting for him, but somehow I doubt that your hero of the sun will make it to him."  
Saeko repulsed the arrow with a quick movement so that it flew into the ground behind them. "We will see about that, won’t we?"  
Shouyou swallowed and took a step to the side, clasped his staff and shortly after that made sure that he threw one wind towards the other. "You shouldn’t focus on just one of us."  
The person turned his head towards him and moved the corners of his mouth a little to a grin, pushed his hood back. "What, you want to fight, too? I thought the Demons did a good job wearing you down."  
Shouyou grumbled a bit, about to answer something, when he noticed Atsumu pulling at his clothes and growling softly at him. "... What?"  
"This is the wrong moment to play the hero, Hinata," Akaashi said next to him and shook his head, pointing to the side, "Bokuto, Konoha, attack."  
Shouyou blinked in surprise when he felt Atsumu suddenly grab his hand and pull him along with him, barely realizing that the fox had transformed. "What- Atsumu? Wait-!" Even though he didn’t really resist the other one pulling him along.  
He looked halfway back, but could no longer really see whether the others were following them or not or what was wrong with this opponent. When he thought about it like that, this opponent reminded him of one of the attackers from Seijoh’s team, without him knowing exactly who he was.  
"Don’t talk, just run," Atsumu growled at him without turning around, while he didn’t let go of him either as he continued running.  
"What about the others," Shouyou asked as he stumbled more behind Atsumu and let himself be dragged along.  
"They’ll be all right," Atsumu said, briefly turning his head to the side, waving his tail the other way, and then pulling him into the remains of an ancient ruin, or whatever it was, where they were moving down a staircase into the underground. "We should be safe here for now."  
"Where are we?" Shouyou murmured and settled down next to the other one, "I mean... we’re still in Seijoh, right?"  
Atsumu sighed and put a finger on his lips before folding over him and waving his tail back. "You really have no idea about this world, do you, Shouyou?"  
"What?" Shouyou growled and looked a little blushed to the side, "why should I? This is not my world!"  
Atsumu giggled a little while taking a few quick breaths, then sighed and turned on his back, leaving his head in Shouyou‘s lap and looking at him. "This is Kageyama’s former castle before he betrayed Oikawa."  
"What", Shouyou expressed his shock, shook his head and just looked at the fox. He already knew that something had been in the past of Kageyama and Iwaizumi, just never really what. "This... how do you know this, Atsumu?"  
"I told you I belong to a nomadic tribe," Atsumu replied calmly, "we roamed a lot. I know some stories from this world that not everyone knows."  
Shouyou swallowed and looked a little bit above himself, even if it was just the ceiling of the underground where they were at the moment. "What about the others? And shouldn’t we go to Oikawa’s demon castle?"  
"You’ve been fighting a lot the last few hours, Shouyou," Atsumu said without moving, "you’re in no condition to go there. And neither am I. The others will get along and find us afterwards."  
"I don’t exactly feel like a leader," Shouyou murmured, and somewhat unconsciously stroked Atsumu’s tail that he had waved over himself.  
Atsumu muttered a soft grumble as he closed his eyes. "You are not only a normal leader, but the hero who will save us. I am sure we will meet them again, later. Rest now ... I... am tired..."  
Shouyou only noticed how the fox relaxed and pushed to the side and towards him, while a smile fell on Atsumu’s lips. He smiled calmly and nodded a little. He should probably recover as well. Besides, he needed all his strength to save Kenma.


	21. Chapter 20

Shouyou did not know when or how he had fallen asleep, but he was now awakened by the nudge of Atsumu’s muzzle as he looked at him.  
"Uh... Morning," he murmured and rubbed his eyes a little as he looked at the fox that lay over him and changed shortly after.  
"Good morning Shouyou," Atsumu said and then grinned at him wider, "Ready? I don’t think anyone is here right now and we could make it further without being attacked too much."  
Shouyou looked at him in surprise for a moment, but then nodded and stood up. "Yes, let’s go on," he then said and followed Atsumu from the underground. He wondered what happened to the others, but he was also pretty sure that they could take good care of themselves.  
He would meet the others again. His first and next goal had to be to find and rescue Kenma.  
He was really glad that he was with Atsumu, because the fox seemed to know exactly where they had to go. It worried him a little bit though that they hardly met any enemies on their way. Had these Demons really not noticed where they were?  
"It’s right there in front of us," Atsumu said, pointing to the distance where they could see something like a castle, "I think the closer we get, the fewer normal demons will ambush us."  
Shouyou swallowed but nodded. "You mean?"  
"They want to prove themselves but would never dare to come closer to Oikawa’s castle," Atsumu replied, twitching his tail, "These little creatures are weaklings after all."  
"Hm, that’s why," Shouyou replied and sighed, followed Atsumu further, "we have hardly been attacked for a while."  
"I think they’re waiting for you and that will scare the smaller demons away from the castle," Atsumu said and lifted his head up, twitching his ears while grabbing Shouyou by the arm, "wait Shouyou."  
Confused, Shouyou stopped and turned his head a little towards the fox before he slowly looked forward again.  
The roar of a slightly larger, white-grey cat came to them, so that Shouyou opened his eyes a bit when he saw the creature. Although, cat was probably a bit too cute for this creature, which was a lot bigger. The legs were strong and the tail was tousled at the tip.  
"What-what is that?" he asked, clutching his staff a little.  
"I would say a mutation," Atsumu murmured and took up a fighting position next to him, "Something about him is definitely not a normal demon. Watch out, Shouyou."  
Shouyou swallowed and nodded, noticing how Atsumu jumped at the creature and casually transformed his arms so that they were a little stronger as he extended his claws. Before that, he had seen the other one fight in his normal fox form rather than in such a form where he was half man, half fox.  
He shook his head and concentrated on the creature fighting with Atsumu, trying to wrestle him to the ground. He watched their fight for a while and swallowed when he didn’t really know how to aim to catch this creature. On the other hand, it also looked like Atsumu could manage on his own, so maybe he should get on his way to the castle?  
While holding his staff, he sneaked past the fighters, keeping one eye on the creature in case he was attacked after all. At the same time, however, his gaze was directed forward. If his friends helped him so much, he would make it to the castle now and at least make sure he found Kenma first.  
"Are you going somewhere, hero of the sun," he heard a voice in front of him and blinked when he saw someone holding a sword over his shoulder with one hand while the holder was tied to his back for it.  
Startled, Shouyou blinked, but then sparkled at him and held his staff before him. "I’m on my way to save my friend," he said with a hissing undertone. He would not flinch. Kenma waited for him.  
The one before him now held his sword in front of him while he grinned. "A magic wand from Nekoma, it seems," he said with a smile, "what can I do against a magician like you, hero of the sun?"  
Shouyou looked at him in wonder, pulled his eyebrows together. Why did he have such a strange feeling when he looked at the other one? On the other hand, he had to hurry and really couldn’t waste any time.  
He shook his head briefly and banished all thoughts about the other and shortly after that he made sure to fire some fireballs from his staff.  
"You fell for it, kid," the warrior said in front of him, and Shouyou widened his eyes when he noticed the other one holding a shield in front of him that reflected his magic.  
He flinched and was about to cast a counter spell when he was pushed aside. "What..."  
"So you really are a traitor, Futakuchi," he heard the voice of the one who had pushed him away and noticed how someone crossed the sword blade with the other.  
"Nah, nah, what are you doing here, _Senpai_? Not that you could be dangerous to me~," Futakuchi giggled to himself.  
Shouyou blinked and straightened up slowly, watching the fight for a few seconds before it broke loose. "What- who is-",  
"Don’t you have something to do, little one?" his rescuer growled and looked at him briefly with a sideways glance, "I’ll take care of him."  
"What, do you really think you can defeat me, Kamasaki- _senpai_?", Futakuchi replied with a broad grin.  
"What, did you ever win against me," Kamasaki replied, and Shouyou noticed only out of the corner of his eye how he glanced at him before he finally moved past them.  
He really didn’t have time to wait here when his target was somewhere further inside.


	22. Chapter 21

After Shouyou had walked through the corridors of the castle for a while and opened one door or another that he had passed, he slowly didn’t know exactly where he was walking.  
This was more irritating than he had imagined. How could he find his way to Kenma if he found several new passages each time?  
He didn’t find anyone to attack him either, but he didn’t find anything to give him a clue where to go. Somehow he wished more and more that he wasn’t all alone here. Maybe the others in his team would find some clue. Maybe they would know what he had to do to get ahead.  
He sighed and pushed open another door, stepped into the room behind it, where some old materials were lying around, but they looked rather useless. Leaning against the wall, he looked at his magic wand and blinked. Maybe he could track Kenma down with it? He had learned how to use magic, so would he be able to do a tracking spell or something?  
At least he was sure that Nekomata-san had shown him something like that, but he just didn’t really know how it worked anymore.  
He sighed heavily again. Why couldn’t he remember?  
"Hello~ Hero of the Sun," a voice interrupted Shouyou’s thoughts so that he blinked irritated and looked into the eyes in front of him. Two black horns peeked out from between the dark brown, protruding hairs of the other, while he had a long, thin tail that swung to the side.  
"What," Shouyou murmured, and would have preferred to back off, if he didn’t already feel the wall in his back. He recognized the other one as Nishinoya, but he had absolutely no good feeling about him right now.  
"Why are you dawdling around like this," Nishinoya asked and stepped further towards him, pushing him against the wall behind him with one arm, "my mistress is waiting for some fun, how about if I take you to her, little hero of the sun?"  
Shouyou swallowed and held his staff clasped, turning his head a little to the side before pulling himself together. "I don’t think so," he started and let out a small jet of water from his staff to get Nishinoya to let go and jump back a little bit, "I have more important things to do right now."  
"More important? Your little spirit, huh," Nishinoya said and stroked his face a little, then grinned broadly, "I think you can make Kuroo-san wait a little longer. Hey, Kiyoko-sama wants to have some fun with you~."  
Shouyou swallowed, shook his head and caused a short flash of light that made Nishinoya turn away.  
"You’re quite annoying ...", he growled and waved his tail in the air, "well, you didn’t want it any other way."  
Shouyou widened his eyes as he soon noticed claws clawing into his shoulder and he hardly realized how the other one had jumped at him. Damn, why was he so fast that he hadn’t even noticed him? He really wasn’t cut out for this whole thing, was he? "Let-" he started, concentrated and caused a strong wind to blow over him and hopefully dragged Nishinoya away from him.  
"Weak~", Nishinoya murmured as he continued to drill his claws into Shouyou’s shoulders, waving his tail around him, "I will defeat you and after that my mistress can use your remains for whatever magic she wants."  
"You will not!"  
Shouyou flinched violently and only noticed an arrow flying past him before another arrow hurled the demon off and held his one wing on the ground. Which caused Shouyou to blink twice because he hadn’t even seen anything of those black, smooth wings that Nishinoya had before.  
"So you have reinforcements after all, hero of the sun," Nishinoya growled as he pulled the arrow out of his wing afterwards and straightened up a little more shakily, his eyes directed more towards Shouyou.  
"You really shouldn’t dawdle any longer, Hinata."  
Shouyou looked to the side and noticed that the one next to him was again drawing his bow. "What..."  
"I guess we’re just in time," Saeko said next to Akiteru and held her sword in her hand, "go on, get going, Shou-chan!"  
"We’ll take care of him," Akiteru said as he kept his eyes on Nishinoya.  
Shouyou sighed but nodded before he scratched his head a little. "I just have no idea where I am?"  
"Really? Pretty aimless hero," Nishinoya giggled while he spread his wings a bit.  
"You better be quiet," Akiteru replied with a sparkle, his bow still tightened.  
"Come on, we’ll find your spirit’s whereabouts," Tenma said a little later with a smile, before reaching for Shouyou’s arm and pulling him out of the room, "Aki, Sae-chan, I’m leaving him to you."  
Before Shouyou could say anything else, he felt Tenma pulling him with him and somehow he felt too helpless again at that moment. How could he be a hero if he couldn’t even manage to defeat a few opponents on his own or find a way to his real opponent?  
"Uh, Tenma-san? What ... happened," he asked after a few seconds, though.  
"Nothing special, honestly," Tenma replied, shrugging his shoulders, "... nothing we should at least talk about now."  
Shouyou swallowed, but nodded. After all, they were in enemy territory and should concentrate on their next target. He had to find out how he got to Kenma.  
"Didn’t the head of Nekoma show you how to track someone down, too," Tenma asked as he walked a little more normally beside him now.  
Shouyou blinked before turning his head a little red to the side. "I... don’t know anymore..." Why didn’t he remember it? He knew that he needed it to find Kenma in the easiest way inside this castle.  
"That makes things more complicated," Tenma replied with a little more sighing and drove through his hair, "and before you ask, no I don’t know how it works. This is one of the magic spells that is withheld from someone at Nekoma. Only someone from there can teach it to you."  
"Oh," Shouyou made a little sadder. And he had thought for a moment that Tenma could help him, but now he was as smart as he had been before.  
"I guess that means we’ll just have to keep looking and hope we don’t run into anyone we’d better not run into before," Tenma said, "Come on, let’s not waste time then."  
Shouyou smiled a bit more tortured while he looked at the other magician. Why did he have the feeling that he was back where he had been a while before he was attacked by Nishinoya?


	23. Chapter 22

For the next few minutes, his search felt only more unsuccessful as he opened one door after another and ran through seemingly endless corridors.  
Which led Tenma to finally pull him back when he almost walked into a trap inside a room and fell into the abyss that had built up in front of him.  
Shouyou took a deep breath as he dropped to the floor. His gaze glided to his staff. Somehow he had to find out how this tracking spell worked so he could find Kenma.  
"Come on, no slacking, Shouyou," Tenma said, looking at him from the side.  
Shouyou swallowed, nodded and slowly straightened up again, supported himself on the wall and finally walked on. Damn it, he shouldn’t rest or wait, he had to keep going.  
" _Shouyou!_ "  
He flinched back and raised his head, blinking in Tenma’s direction before he was sure that it wasn’t the magician who had addressed him.  
Did that mean...?  
He looked at his staff, concentrated and hoped that he hadn’t imagined it and that he had really heard Kenma’s voice.  
"Hey, what’s-" Tenma started, when he stopped and turned to him, "did you feel anything?"  
Shouyou nodded a little, but then sighed. He was at least sure that he had heard his friend, but in the meantime he didn’t feel anything at all. "Yes, but... only for a moment."  
He blinked in surprise when he recognized a cat in the hallway in front of him, all in black with bright yellow eyes staring straight at him.  
"What... what is this cat doing here," Tenma asked, tilting his head.  
"I... I think I’ve seen them before," Shouyou muttered, widening his eyes, "back when I was held by Yaku. Is it... his?"  
Tenma narrowed his eyes next to him when he noticed the cat turning away from them and walking in the opposite direction, briefly turning its head and giving a mew. "She seems to want us to follow her, but if it’s Yaku‘s," Tenma muttered and just stared at her, "it could be a pretty obvious trap."  
Shouyou swallowed. He also didn’t believe that it was not a trap, but if this cat belonged to Yaku, it was also a chance to find him and thus find his friend. He had to find Kenma. "Even if ... it is the chance to find him, isn’t it?"  
Tenma ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. "And to walk completely into Yaku’s trap, sure."  
Shouyou turned his head towards him and just gave him a big smile. "If I’m really that hero, I can’t let that scare me off. Besides, I don’t want to wait any longer to save Kenma. Sorry, I’ve really got you guys into enough trouble already." With that, he set out to follow the cat, who shortly after started a sprint, so that Shouyou also accelerated his steps to follow her and not to lose sight of her.  
He stopped in front of a staircase leading down, blinked left and right and then looked down again when he could no longer see the cat anywhere.  
"That way?" Tenma asked behind him, which made Shouyou jump up a little startled, "hey, I’m not going to leave you alone when you are so obviously running into a trap."  
Shouyou smiled at him a little crooked. Somehow he didn’t know how to react to Tenma following him so easily, even though it was clear that it was a trap set by Yaku. "... Thank you Tenma-san," he finally just said before he moved down the stairs.  
The passage felt cold and endless as they walked on, and somehow Shouyou wondered if he had really chosen the right path. However, he also had a feeling as if he was approaching Kenma, even though he couldn’t really describe it.  
Was it because of this connection he had here with him?  
When he stopped next to a door inside the corridor, he swallowed and waited a moment before opening it. Why did he have such a strange feeling about it?  
With the other hand he clasped his stick as he entered the room behind and blinked when he saw the cat sitting in the middle of the room. No one else, though. What?  
"... What is this place?" Shouyou asked in surprise.  
"Argh", Tenma started behind him and he turned to the other one in shock when he sank to the ground by something and leaned on it, "what ... is that?"  
"How?" Shouyou said surprised and looked around.  
"He’s disturbing."  
Shouyou flinched again and turned to the side, looking straight into Kenma’s cat-like eyes. This time, however, his friend was in a more physical form in front of him as he narrowed his eyes. "What, Kenma ...",  
"Did you really not get it, Shouyou?" Kenma asked and put his head to the side, "... well, not even Yaku understood."  
"Kenma, what do you mean?" he asked, blinking when his friend came up to him and gave him a smile, which seemed somehow eerie.  
"I have chosen you to come here to be with you through Kenma’s soul," Kenma said calmly and smiled a little.  
Shouyou swallowed, shook his head violently and backed away from the other, now staring at him with widened eyes. "How... you’re not..."  
"That’s right, I am not the Kenma you know, Shouyou," he said calmly back and put his head to one side, "if you are looking for him, he is held by Yaku."  
"What- what are you doing here?" Shouyou asked, turning to the side, "why are you attacking us?"  
"Don’t you have more important things to do, find a way back, save your friend and defeat Oikawa," Kenma murmured in front of him and continued to smile darkly at him.  
Shouyou looked at him, took a step back but shook his head. Why did he feel that something was wrong here? Why did Kenma feel so much like his opponent, like he was just waiting for him to set out to defeat Kuroo and Oikawa and save his friend?  
His gaze slipped sideways to Tenma, who still couldn’t really move because of some magic or whatever it was. What was all this?  
"You’re not Kenma, are you," Shouyou then replied, narrowing his eyes and staring at the other, while he hadn’t really pronounced it as a question.  
"You’re smarter than you seem, young hero of the sun," he replied, reaching for the cat sitting on the floor, "and I thought I could open your eyes about this magician."  
"Kenma would never... he is my friend, why are you trying to deceive me, Yaku?" he hissed more angrily, noticing something jumping past him and a larger, white-grey cat moving next to the others.  
"Me deceive you?," Yaku asked and smiled, looking to the side, "... did you at least finish off that fox, Lev?"  
Shouyou flinched as he listened to him, his eyes widened as he realized that it was this cat creature he had met with Atsumu in front of the castle. He couldn’t have defeated him, could he?  
"Anyway," Yaku growled and rolled his eyes, "you want your spirit back, don’t you, hero of the sun?"  
Shouyou turned his attention back to the sorcerer, nodded and looked at him resolutely, grasping his staff a little more. "I will not shirk or hide behind others anymore. This is my fight."  
"I feel that you have learned a lot", Yaku murmured and let the cat jump to the floor, "Nekomata- _sensei_ did a pretty good job, huh. Let’s see who was his better student, huh?"  
Shouyou noticed how Yaku grinned at him. Could he really be better than him after those few days of intensive training with Nekomata?


	24. Chapter 23

In the first moment when their magic spells collided, Shouyou felt like he could keep up with Yaku’s power.  
But somehow, after a while, he felt that this was by no means all the other one could do.  
He widened his eyes in horror as he was thrown against the wall behind him by a kind of shadow and sat on the floor panting a little. "Shouyou," he heard Tenma call out, but the other was still immobilized thanks to Yaku’s magic.  
"Did you think you were the only one with a spirit," Yaku asked and put his head to one side.  
Shouyou looked at him darkly, then noticed the shadow lingering in front of him, holding what looked like a longer, thin rope in his hand, but he could see spikes on that part practically everywhere. How could he actually assume that Yaku had no spirit when he was so powerful?  
He propped himself on the ground and fixed the shadow above him, which looked at him silently.  
"Actually, I should just kill you, hero of the sun," Yaku said with a dark undertone that made a shiver run down Shouyou’s back in ice-cold relief. What was he supposed to do right now?  
How could he even win and get back to his world?  
" _Don’t give up, Shouyou!_ "  
He flinched back and raised his head, looking to the side before looking back at Yaku. Hadn’t he clearly heard Kenma’s voice in his head just then?  
And... he wasn’t allowed to give up, was he? He was not allowed to!  
There had to be a way to win. This one was like an adventure game in a way that Kenma liked to play. He was the hero who was destined to win, so he couldn’t give up and let Yaku defeat him.  
A cry of pain escaped from his throat as he was hit straight in the back by this spiked whip, or whatever it was that held that shadow creature in front of him, and just fell forward, just leaning straight in front of him.  
There must have been something he could do!  
"You really thought you could make a difference?" Yaku started again, "Weakling. Why are you the hero of the legend?"  
"There is always a solution, to win a fight that seems hopeless," Tenma’s voice reached his ears, and Shouyou raised his head again.  
Only what kind of solution? How could he win this fight?  
He felt this whip of Yaku’s spirit around his neck and he swallowed in terror, grabbed it and felt the spikes cause him to bleed.  
"I have no desire to play with you any longer, hero of the sun," Yaku replied and waved a little, "unlike Kuroo, I prefer to finish my opponents directly before they can become dangerous to us."  
Shouyou just stared at him while he was busy making sure that this whip didn’t cut off his air too much or hurt his neck too violently.  
How could he get out of here?  
" _There’s a solution for everything, Shouyou._ "  
He heard Kenma’s voice in his head and blinked when he saw something approaching the shadow creature shortly afterwards and threw him back a bit so that this spirit had to let him go. "What-" he started to cough a little.  
"So you have freed yourself, Kenma," Yaku said and continued to grin at him.  
Shouyou blinked a bit irritating when he really saw Kenma in front of him, but he was wearing a white, slightly transparent cape while holding a bow in his hand and tensing an arrow. "Kenma ...?"  
"I’ll explain later, hero of the sun," Kenma said a little more normally and not only in his thoughts before firing the arrow in Yaku’s direction.  
Shouyou swallowed, but could only watch him before he saw Kenma move in front of him and lay his hands on the injuries on his neck. "Hold still, hero of the sun," he said calmly, and for a moment Shouyou felt a warmth that made him feel no more pain. He also noticed that the blood he had felt before had completely stopped coming out of the wound. "Kenma, what..."  
"Do you want to fight again? We will defeat you again, Kenma," he heard Yaku’s voice, and Shouyou passed his friend and looked at the sorcerer who had made his own spirit disappear.  
"Shouyou will defeat you," Kenma now said in a haunting voice, "come, let’s go, hero of the sun."  
"Hey, wait," Tenma began next to them, "who ... who are you? You are not Shouyou‘s Spirit. Or... not complete."  
"If you know what is good for you, I wouldn’t trust this magician," Yaku said with a clear sparkle in his eyes.  
Shouyou turned to them briefly before turning back to Kenma and walking out of the room with him, confusedly blinking. "What... what did Yaku mean by that? And... why are you calling me that now?"  
"Nothing, he just wants to confuse you," Kenma said more earnestly and looked ahead to him, "I am nothing more than a ghost who made your friend accompany you so that I can help you as well. A mage from Nekoma, whose physical shell was destroyed in a battle with Yaku."  
"But... you are... Kenma, right? The Kenma from this world?" Shouyou asked confusedly, "and why ... you are both from Nekoma?"  
"I am, yes," Kenma said calmly nodding, "your friend is trapped in the hiding place guarded by Kuroo’s demons." He sighed and finally gave Shouyou a smile. "I need your help to defeat Yaku. Will you help me, hero of the sun?"  
Shouyou swallowed and looked at the staff in his hand. "You have magic powers yourself, don’t you?"  
"I have healing powers and can use light magic," Kenma said calmly, "but in this form under no circumstances as strong as I used to be able to do with a physical body."  
"What exactly... a spirit can also fight properly," Shouyou asked.  
"Like Yaku’s spirit hurt you? Hm," Kenma replied and walked slowly in front of him. Or floated, more likely. "Did you see the cat that is with Yaku? That is the physical form of his spirit. He is harmless in that form. And no, a spirit can look different in physical form. A spirit often uses the possibility of an animal to accompany someone. It makes him less vulnerable."  
Shouyou just stared at the other for a long time. Why did he only find out about this now? Why couldn’t anyone explain it to him in more detail?  
"A spirit is more than just a way to support you. It helps you to control your magical powers and can unleash its own power in a fight," Kenma continued calmly, "with you it is ... different. Because _your_ Kenma is not necessarily your spirit. You are both from a different world. I have chosen him rather so that I can be with you through him."  
Shouyou nodded a little, turned to the side. "Where are we going? And... what about the others?" He hadn’t even noticed that Tenma hadn’t followed him and he hadn’t heard anything from the others since he had entered the castle.  
"We’re going to the hiding place where your friend is being held," Kenma said calmly, "I’m sure Kuroo isn’t paying attention to what we’re doing right now. Even though these demons will probably report to him after we have saved your friend."  
Shouyou nodded, swallowed a little, but then tightened his shoulders and held his staff closer to his body. Even so, it was probably what they had to do first. When Kenma - _his friend_ \- was with him again, he would feel better at first, and if necessary, he would take on Kuroo afterwards.


	25. Chapter 24

The silence between them felt oppressive as Shouyou followed the magician. He actually didn’t really know why he felt so strange. Somehow it kept going through his mind how Yaku had looked at the other one or that he was alone with Kenma at the moment.  
Why did it all feel so strange? Kenma was the one who had called him, wasn’t he? And Yaku had deceived and attacked him, so why did all this now make him feel strange about following this magician?  
"Hey, hero of the sun," Kenma pulled him out of his thoughts and he blinked as he stopped in front of a door that looked no different than any other, "you shouldn’t get lost in your thoughts. If we keep walking, we’ll probably run into Kuroo as well."  
Shouyou swallowed and nodded, grabbed the doorknob and looked at the magician who looked at him calmly before opening the door and looking into the room behind.  
" _Shouyou!_ ", he heard his friend’s voice echoing in his head before seeing him sitting in a cage inside the room with something tied to the wall behind him, causing his appearance to flicker a little.  
"Kenma!", he said a little louder, ran to him and clasped his staff by the way. There was no one else here, but he didn’t know how long it would be like this. He had to find out how to pick this lock and how to get Kenma out of it.  
"Calm down, hero of the sun," muttered the magician behind him and he turned his head a little towards the other one, "you should be able to crack it easily with a spell."  
Shouyou blinked and looked at the lock that this magician pointed to with a movement of his head. "And... how?" Even if he knew, he was barely able to think normally right now.  
"Concentrate and put your hand over it, I’ll help you," muttered the magician, and shortly after Shouyou did what he said, he put his hands over Shouyou‘s and whispered something into his ear, which he repeated slowly.  
Shouyou flinched, blinking as the lock jumped open and the door jumped forward. "Kenma!"  
"Oh, that’s why Yakkun didn’t finish you off."  
Startled, Shouyou stopped in his movement to run to his friend, turned around and stared straight at Kuroo, who grinned at him with his head tilted.  
"Did you really think you could defeat me so easily," the magician next to him replied, holding his bow in front of him, letting an arrow appear on it, while looking at Shouyou from the side, "free your friend. You should be able to do it alone now."  
"If you really want this spirit," Kuroo shrugged his shoulders and snapped his fingers briefly, whereupon Shouyou just blinked as the chain that had held Kenma captive sprang open, "it’s not as if we have to keep holding him captive."  
" _Shouyou ..._ ", Kenma murmured to him and shortly afterwards he felt again how his friend was so close to him that it sent a warm shiver through his body.  
"Sorry Kenma," Shouyou murmured a little quieter before he turned his attention back to Kuroo, "you just wanted me to come here?"  
Kuroo shrugged his shoulders, grinning at him further. "Yaku said it’s a test if it’s that easy to weaken you," he replied with a smile, "I didn’t think you’d get help from him."  
"Don’t underestimate him, Kuroo," the mage Kenma said and finally cocked his bow while pulling back the arrow, "he has a power within him that will defeat you."  
Kuroo smiled and just looked calmly at them. "What, are you going to stop me with this?"  
" _Shouyou, you have to attack when he shoots,_ " he heard Kenma’s voice in his head, so he held his staff and just nodded a little.  
"I’m not the one who will defeat you, Kuroo," the magician said back more seriously before firing his arrow, shortly after that Shouyou made a lightning spell that shot out of his staff.  
"Ah, I see," muttered Kuroo before he took a step back and let the magic bounce off something, "you want to distract me so that this hero of the sun has an easier game."  
"We will defeat you," Shouyou said with a twinkle in his eye before firing another spell.  
"Sweet," Kuroo replied, taking a step to the side, and shortly after, a sword appeared in his hand while two wings spread out from his back. A few seconds later he was in front of Shouyou, so he could only repel the sword stroke of the demon with his staff.  
"You’re stronger than before," Kuroo replied, looking at him so directly, a grin on his lips, "... however," he murmured and pushed his sword forward a little more, making Shouyou retreat a little.  
"I won’t lose," Shouyou said back more seriously, clasping his staff and letting another spell be fired on the other one, so that he could get some air again, "I will defeat you!"  
Kuroo still smiled at him, moved his wings back a little and swung his sword in the air. "And you think Kenma is so much better than us?"  
"Stop deceiving me," Shouyou hissed at him, even though he had briefly glanced at Kenma from the side. The magician had been killed by them because he wanted to stop them, how could he not be on his side?  
"The question is who is deceiving whom here," Kuroo said calmly back.  
Shouyou sparkled at him and clasped his staff more. "If you’re not deceiving me... tell me... where Iwaizumi and Kageyama are."  
"With Oikawa," Kuroo shrugged, "I think they’ve realized they’re better on our side."  
Shouyou widened his eyes a bit, shook his head, and released one fireball after another. "I don’t believe you."  
"Whatever you say," Kuroo replied and dodged only briefly, waving his tail in the air before spreading his wings and hitting him again with his sword so that Shouyou had to use his staff to defend himself, "if you don’t believe me, I’ll probably have to finish you off too."  
"You won’t defeat him, Kuroo," the voice of the magician Kenma penetrated to him, while Shouyou half noticed how the other one drew his bow again.  
"You’re quite annoying, Kenma," Kuroo said and sighed a bit, but continued to focus more on Shouyou, "maybe we should have destroyed your mind completely."  
"If you did that, you would not only affect our world but his world as well," the magician said and sparkled in their direction, "you would never risk that, would you, Kuroo?"  
"What?" Shouyou asked and raised his eyes, seeing straight into Kuroo’s clear red eyes lying on top of him. What exactly did Kenma mean when he said that if his spirit died completely, it would also affect his world?  
"... So annoying that you remember what it means to be involved with someone from another world," Kuroo sighed without taking his eyes off Shouyou, "but I can’t very well harm you or your friend just for-",  
Shouyou continued to look at him in confusion. Kuroo had not spoken further, but it irritated him that he was thinking about destroying Kenma’s spirit completely. They were enemies after all. His goal was to save this world from these demons, right? Then why did Kuroo say such a thing?  
"Come here, Kuroo."  
Shouyou lifted his gaze more confused when he noticed Kuroo surprisingly lifting his head, pulling his sword back a little and pulling his wings a little before he took a step backwards.  
Astonished, he looked at the other as Kuroo made his wings disappear and stopped next to Yaku, who had appeared in the door frame and was now looking at him more seriously. What was that about? Why did Kuroo break off the fight between them?  
"What’s wrong, Yakkun? I thought-" Kuroo caught a little surprised while he looked at the magician.  
"There’s only one way to defeat Kenma and you know that, Kuroo," Yaku said calmly, but fixed Shouyou’s gaze, "if you keep fighting, you’ll only lose, and that’s what nobody here needs."  
"What... what are you talking about, Yaku? What exactly, how-" Shouyou started, staring at the other one while he noticed how the magician Kenma held his bow, but without holding an arrow.  
"I won’t tell you any more, hero of the sun," Yaku said calmly as he looked at him more seriously, "only one thing: you should be careful who is on your team."  
"Do you really want to leave him alone with the magician, Yaku?" Kuroo asked.  
Yaku sighed and looked over to Shouyou once more. "Would you believe me if I told you what’s going on, Shouyou?"  
" _Shouyou,_ " Kenma’s voice in his head penetrated to him, so that he looked a little more thoughtfully at Yaku. Would he trust him? After all, he had dragged Kenma away from him when he had gone to Nekoma. He shook his head a little and looked down at the ground in front of him. " _Shouyou, I don’t think that-_ "  
"I thought so," Yaku replied only to this, so that Kenma broke off his sentence that he had started, even if he had only said it to Shouyou. Then he took his staff in one hand, "then you should get out of here."  
Shouyou looked at him again in surprise when he only noticed how Yaku disappeared together with Kuroo in a dark purple cloud before his eyes while he looked half confused at Kenma who looked at him more depressed. " _Let’s get out of here. I... I have a weird feeling._ "  
Before he could react to Kenma, he heard a loud bang and stared in horror at the magician Kenma, who looked at him with widened eyes. "Damn. Get out of here, sunshine hero! Get the hell out of here!"


	26. Chapter 25

Confused, Shouyou blinked his eyes open, but only felt a sharp pain that ran through his upper body, so that he only stayed lying down.  
Where was he?  
How had he come here?  
He heard a rustling next to him and at least tried to turn his head in that direction when he couldn’t sit up. He noticed someone sitting next to him while a gray-white fox’s tail was waving in front of him.  
At least it resembled the tail Atsumu had, even if it had a different color.  
"Oh, you’re awake, little magician," a quiet voice came to him and he noticed the person turn towards him, leaning briefly on the floor with his hands before stroking his tail and waving it forward, "drink this. It should ease your pain."  
Shouyou blinked in surprise at the wooden bowl being held out to him. Slowly, he tried to sit up again, grabbing the bowl with one hand while supporting himself on the floor with the other. He felt that he had no real control to move, so after drinking he let himself sink back to the floor. "Where am I here?"  
"Rest a little longer," this fox replied calmly and stroked his forehead before he pushed a blanket over his body, "Atsumu has brought you here."  
"Atsumu?," Shouyou asked, a little confused. So the other one was fine and that creature that was with Yaku hadn’t killed him. He was a little relieved about that while thinking about the fact that he hadn’t heard anything from that fox for too long.  
However, it made him remember that something had exploded in the castle and he had fled. Only ... what then? How had he got out of there? Where were his comrades? He felt as if he didn’t really remember what happened after that. "Since when... have I been here? What happened?"  
"You’ve slept for four days," the fox said and waved his tail in the air, "you’re really lucky to have survived the explosion. What’s a magician like you doing in Oikawas Demon Castle?"  
Shouyou blinked irritated. He actually thought that everyone here recognized him as this hero of the legend, so why did that fox only see him as a magician? "I... I had to find my friend and...",  
"Whatever," the fox waved away, "you should rest a little longer. After all, you’re still in pain, aren’t you?"  
"Yes... a little," Shouyou replied quietly back, "but where am I? Who are you?"  
"In our camp," the fox said calmly, "didn’t Atsumu tell you that we are a nomadic tribe?" Shouyou blinked at the other in surprise while remembering Atsumu’s words when he had joined him, "My name is Kita Shinsuke, the leader of this tribe, if you will."  
Shouyou looked at him a little more quietly. He remembered him darkly now that he heard that name. "Hm, yes," he said with a deep sigh, "but where ... where are the others? I was not alone in the castle."  
"I’m sorry, I can’t answer that," Kita said and shook his head, "we searched the area but found no one. Atsumu also said that you were not alone."  
"I see," Shouyou whispered somewhat more depressed. In any case, he had to set out to find the others when he was fit again. Even if he could imagine that they could take very good care of themselves and knew this world better than Shouyou did anyway.  
"I’ll have our healer check on you later, until then, rest," Kita said calmly before he stood up and started to leave the room.  
Shouyou just looked at him a little while he just stayed lying on the bed because every movement hurt him too much. When he was alone, however, he blinked a little in front of him. "Kenma? Can you hear me?"  
" _Of course, Shouyou,_ " he heard the voice of his best friend shortly afterwards.  
"Do you know what happened? I remember this explosion and that we tried to escape, but I have no idea what exactly happened," Shouyou replied a little more thoughtfully.  
" _Sorry, I don’t know any more than you do,_ " Kenma said calmly back, leaning something over him in his ghostly appearance, " _but listen, Shouyou ... all this, why do you trust **him** more than Yaku?_"  
Confused, Shouyou tore his eyes open, wanted to sit up in shock, but only felt a sharp pain and let himself sink back into his seat. "Kenma, what... He called us, didn’t he?"  
" _I know,_ " Kenma said and put his hand on Shouyou‘s, even if it felt strange, because the other one had this strange ghost form, " _but ... I would have liked to hear what Yaku wanted to tell us. I don’t know, but... something feels strange._ "  
Shouyou continued to stare at the other one in an irritated manner, let the whole scenario in the castle go through his mind again. What exactly should be so strange about it? After all, it was Yaku who had taken him by surprise and captured Kenma. Why did Kenma say something like that now? "I can’t trust him, Kenma," he finally said with a serious look, noticing how Kenma’s gaze sank.  
" _I know,_ " Kenma murmured softly, " _but ... what if ... there is an explanation for everything._ "  
"They might just want us to think that, just to trick us again," Shouyou said more seriously back, "Kenma, we-",  
"Oh, am I interrupting something, little magician?"  
Shouyou noticed Kenma moving a little bit away from him, even though probably hardly anyone could see his friend. However, he saw someone approaching him with a slight smile on his face, holding a basket in his hand. His hair was completely black, just like his pointed fox ears. The tail was black, except for the tip. "No, all is well ...", Shouyou muttered and turned his head to the side to look more in Kenma’s direction, even if his friend was just leaning against the windowsill on the side and looking outside.  
"Don’t worry, I just want to check your injuries for a short while," this fox muttered and waved his tail around, kneeled down next to him, "after that I’ll leave you alone with your spirit again."  
"You can see that-" Shouyou started, whereupon the other one just smiled and nodded a little.  
"Every magician can at least sense when someone has a spirit," the fox said, while Shouyou noticed how the other felt his upper body, "oh, my name is Suna Rintarou. I am a healer."  
Shouyou just nodded a little unnoticed, but otherwise remained lying still and let the other do his work. He didn’t know exactly what to say anyway and moving was not really something he could do at the moment. Instead, his thoughts turned to what Kenma had told him. Should he have listened to what Yaku could tell him? He tense up inside at the thought. Why? He had not seemed to believe him before. So how could he trust him even a little now to believe what he wanted to tell him?  
He looked at his friend, who meanwhile looked at him again and fixed his gaze. What exactly was he supposed to do?  
"You seem to heal well, magician," Suna said and took Shouyou out of his thoughts again, so that he turned his head towards him, "tomorrow you should be able to move again."  
"Thank you," Shouyou said and looked at him with a smile.  
"It’s okay," Suna buzzed and then straightened up, turned away and waved his tail in the air, "Atsumu-kun seems to like you quite a bit, as panicked as he was when he arrived with you. It was amusing to see him like that."  
Shouyou only blinked when he could only see Suna leaving the room again, so he was alone with Kenma again. Even though he just had the feeling that he was a little more tense than before, that he was alone with his friend. Kenma’s gaze was as penetrating as it was during their match and it made an icy shiver run down his back. "Kenma..."  
" _We’ll talk more about it when you’re fit again,_ " Kenma just said and turned away again, " _we have to look for the others anyway, don’t we?_ "  
Shouyou swallowed and pulled the blanket up a little more towards him. He just felt unable to reciprocate, even though he didn’t know if he could sleep and recover with this tension between them.


	27. Chapter 26

When he woke up the next day, Shouyou felt that he was already feeling better. Or at least he had the feeling that he could move more normally again.  
After Suna had checked on him again, he straightened up to move a little and looked around. Even though he saw nothing but sand and a few palm trees around the camp. As well as a small water hole nearby.  
But he had learned that these foxes were only nomads. In between he looked a little to the side to Kenma, but noticed how his friend only looked in front of him and did not show any signs of wanting to look at him or talk to him.  
It caused something to tense up in Shouyou. He didn’t want there to be any tension between him and Kenma, but he also didn’t know what to do or say to improve it. He thought about what Kenma meant, but every time he thought about Yaku, and that maybe he should have listened to him, he felt bad. He couldn’t imagine that he could believe him after everything that had happened.  
"Stop right away!"  
Shouyou flinched violently when he heard the voice, didn’t move a bit and shortly afterwards looked at a strongly built, tanned, man with dark red fox ears and an equally dark red tail. He held a spear with an arrowhead in his hand.  
His eyes were directed past Shouyou, which eventually caused him to turn his gaze back and look at the one standing in front of him. His face was adorned with a large scar that ran across his entire cheek and across his right eye. His tail was more than ruffled and his ears twitched a little.  
"Wait... I... I don’t want anything of you ...", he started, raised his arms and smiled crookedly.  
"Aren’t you Yaku’s _kitten_?", the fox behind him asked and held his spear in the direction of the other one.  
"I-" he began to flinch, "...sorry."  
Shouyou swallowed when he noticed the look of the other. Saw how this creature in front of him slowly lowered his head. "I don’t think he wants to hurt us," he finally muttered and noticed how the other’s head rose and he looked at him in surprise. He had long since recognized him as Lev, even though he didn’t know whether he should say anything. Were they enemies at the moment or not?  
"You don’t know how dangerous he could be to you, magician," the Fox hummed, sighed a little, "he belongs to Yaku."  
"I have no idea where Yaku-san is ... or any of them," Lev said and lowered his eyes again, "but I understand ... if you do not trust me. I just thought... you are nomads..."  
The fox held his spear further in Lev’s direction before he took a slow deep breath: "... Come with me to our leader. Let him decide."  
Shouyou looked at him and smiled a little as he made his way back with Lev.  
But Shouyou sighed more again. What exactly had happened lately? What had happened in the castle after he had escaped? He only knew that Atsumu had brought him here, but otherwise, he had no idea what had happened.  
He looked around a little. Where exactly was the fox? He would have thought that he would find Atsumu here somewhere, as soon as he could move. Actually, he had thought that the other one was with him anyway, as affectionate as he had been before.  
His eyes turned to some fox people before he stepped to one of the pitched tents. "Uh, excuse me? Can you tell me where ... Atsumu is?"  
"Atsumu-kun?" One of the foxes repeated somewhat more questioningly, shrugged his ears, "probably he’s roaming around somewhere again when he’s not in the camp."  
Shouyou smiled crookedly. That wasn’t very helpful, but he nodded anyway and then set about walking on.  
"Hey, Hinata?"  
He flinched when the voice surprised him, looked to the entrance of a larger tent where he noticed this fox from before looking at him. "Yes?", he replied a little more questioningly, waiting for the other one to continue speaking.  
"Come here, Kita wants to talk to you," he replied and turned around again to go back inside the tent.  
Shouyou looked at him confused, but then followed him inside and looked at Kita in surprise, while he also noticed that Lev was kneeling on a small carpet in front of the tribe leader and had lowered his head.  
"You know him, don’t you?" Kita asked and indicated a nod of his head in Lev’s direction.  
"Uh, a little...?", Shouyou mumbled thoughtfully. Could he call it that if they had only met once in the fight? Even when he was in Karasuno, he had had almost nothing to do with the other one.  
"You want to get back on the way, don’t you? Can you take him with you," Kita asked, with Shouyou noticing how those cat-like ears of Lev straightened up. He turned his head towards him and looked at him.  
"We are not exactly ... comrades," Shouyou murmured with a serious look, "besides that ... he belongs to Yaku, doesn’t he?"  
"I don’t think that I... want to go back to him again," Lev said with a much too soft tone that Shouyou felt like hardly recognized him, "you’re fighting Oikawa, aren’t you?"  
Shouyou nodded a little more quietly, stroking his hair, "But we’d probably have to fight Yaku too if we-",  
"I don’t care," Lev replied and looked at him so seriously that Shouyou backed off a bit, "Yaku-san ... is somehow different than before."  
Shouyou swallowed, but nodded as he looked directly at the other one. Somehow he had the feeling that he could trust him. "Okay."  
"Then let Suna take care of him, so that you both can get your strength back," Kita nodded calmly, "Aran, can you have them pack some supplies?  
"Of course," Aran nodded calmly in the direction of Kita, before he turned away to leave the tent.  
Shouyou looked at the leader of the tribe again, swallowed a little before he remembered that he was looking for Atsumu and that they had been traveling together. "Uh, is Atsumu here somewhere? I mean, he brought me here, right? And... we fought together."  
"Don’t worry, you’ll be able to travel on with him, but he’s still on the way for a good day," Kita said and a gentle smile fell on his lips, "I’ve asked him to do some errands when he’s free to just takes off."  
Shouyou noticed how the other one slowly grinned a little more before crossing his arms in front of him. "You should get some more rest. I will let you know when I hear where your other comrades are, Hinata."  
He nodded a little before he said a short "thank you," but finally started to leave again, just listening that Lev followed him.


	28. Chapter 27

The next two days he rested rather, also because he didn’t know where to go or how to find the others at the moment anyway.  
Besides, he was hoping all the time that he might get a message from Kita where his comrades were.  
"We should leave soon, Shouyou," Lev murmured as he sat on the floor in front of him. His tail was stretched to the side, and Shouyou had already noticed that it was a good deal shorter than before.  
"I know," Shouyou replied quietly, looking at Kenma, who was looking more to the side. There was still a strange atmosphere between them and he didn’t know how to change that. Slowly he turned his head back to Lev, "Since when ... have you got that," he asked curiously, pointing to the other’s tail and larger ears. He remembered that he hadn’t had that when they had run into each other in Karasuno.  
Lev blinked, put one hand over his tail and sighed more audibly. "It was a ... uh... experiment or something? It doesn’t bother me and at least I can fight."  
"Didn’t Yaku teach you magic?" Shouyou asked, tilting his head as he remembered it.  
"I guess I don’t have much magic in me," Lev shrugged, "and so I couldn’t have done anything anyway, although I want to."  
"You want to fight Oikawa, don’t you?", Shouyou asked calmly, "that’s why you joined me?"  
"Someone has to stop him, and after all you are the hero of the legend, Shouyou," Lev said calmly and smiled at him.  
Shouyou swallowed something, scratched the back of his head and smiled at him crookedly. "Seems so..."  
"Hey Shouyou!" Before he could even react, he felt two arms snaking around him from behind and he recognized the fox ears shortly after when Atsumu bent over him.  
"Atsumu... hey," he replied with an embarrassed grin, "thank you for ... saving me?"  
"That was really close," Atsumu said, let go of him and sat down on the floor next to him instead, "I suddenly had a strange voice in my head, and when I went to look inside, you literally fell into my arms! I was really scared of you, Shouyou!"  
"I’m sorry...", Shouyou mumbled a little bit. He didn’t want anyone to worry about him. Besides, no one in this world should build up a too strong bond with him, after all, he would go back to his world one day anyway. At least he didn’t want to stay here. What exactly happened in his world while he was here? Or ... would have no time passed there when he came back?  
"Hey Shouyou? Chibi-chan," Atsumu’s voice brought him back from his own thoughts, so that he blinked a little bit to the other one.  
"What? Sorry ...," Shouyou replied half-smiling, "do you think we can leave soon? I’m worried about what has happened with the others. Besides, we shouldn’t waste any more time."  
"Hmm," Atsumu thought a little, "Kita said he was still collecting information and-" he stopped and blinked, "wh-what are you doing here? You belong to that witch!"  
Lev flinched back, scratching the back of his head a little. "Ah, well..."  
"He’s on our side from now on, Atsumu," Shouyou said calmly and smiled at him, "right, Lev?"  
"Yes, and sorry... uh, Atsumu," Lev said and tilted his head a little, "which at that time ..."  
"Hmm," Atsumu replied with a slight grumble, but then sighed, "when Shouyou says that you are one of our comrades ... but if you hurt him again, I’ll tear you to pieces!"  
"I understand if you don’t trust me," Lev said and sighed, "but I really don’t intend to return to Yaku-san. Even though I ... want to know what happened and why ...," he shook his head at it and just looked silently to the side.  
Shouyou looked at him a little surprised, but only looked at Atsumu again. "I trust him, I think," he said to the fox, "... besides ...", his eyes turned to Kenma. His friend would not be averse to talking to Yaku and maybe learn a little more. Or even to find out what the witch knew.  
"All right, all right," Atsumu waved away, "I already told you that I accept you as leader. That also means I accept your opinion on who should join our team." He grinned at Shouyou wider.  
A little relieved, Shouyou looked at him, nodded a little before he looked at Kenma again. "By the way, I’m not sure what we should do. Before he and Kuroo fled, Yaku sounded as if he could tell us something. I just don’t know if I should have listened to him."  
"Hm? why would Yaku want to tell you anything," Atsumu asked, raised an eyebrow and waved his tail forward, "and why would it help us in any way? He wanted to destroy you, didn’t he?"  
Shouyou swallowed, nodded a little. "So... Kenma... my spirit... or whatever this is right now... thinks I should have listened to what he wanted to say. But-",  
"I don’t think so," Atsumu replied more seriously, "I mean, he probably just wants to trick you with it!"  
Shouyou nodded understandingly. He knew that he had similar thoughts. Still, he slowly looked at Lev. "What... what do you think about this, Lev?"  
He lifted his head, looked a little more confused, twitched his ears a little. "I do not know. I have no idea what exactly Yaku-san is up to."  
"Listening to someone is never wrong, of course, but," Atsumu started and leaned back, folded his arms behind his head, "I don’t trust Yaku."  
Shouyou looked at his comrades one by one before he just sighed more desperately, "I know..."  
" _I don’t want to force you to talk to him, Shouyou,_ " Kenma muttered in a way that was audible only to him, " _I just don’t know at the moment who I should trust and who I shouldn’t trust here._ "  
"I follow you, Shouyou! No matter what you’re up to," Atsumu finally said, while he just looked over himself and grinned broadly, "even if you’re planning to look for Yaku to find out what he wants to tell you. Even if you travel all over the world..."  
"You sound like you’re just following Shouyou around everywhere," Lev grinned over to them.  
Atsumu blinked, straightened up in one quick movement and then beamed broadly, turning to Shouyou. "Maybe I want that, too? Shouyou is so absolutely cute that I don’t want to miss him at all!"  
Shouyou stared at him so irritated that for the moment he didn’t know what to say back. Shouldn’t he make sure that Atsumu knew that he wouldn’t be here forever? He lived in a completely different world anyway.  
" _This fox sounds as if he likes you more, Shouyou,_ " Kenma murmured to him, which made Shouyou think even more.  
"Atsumu? You know that I... won’t be here forever," Shouyou asked a little more while turning to the fox.  
"Oh, yes, unfortunately," Atsumu replied before he pulled Shouyou into an embrace, "but the more I want to enjoy every free minute here with you! Oh and maybe ... you just want to stay here with us!"  
"We should make a plan of where we are going next," Shouyou said somewhat distractingly, pushing the other away again. He didn’t want to think about what would happen when they had finished everything. He should just try a little bit more to keep some distance. Somehow it felt weird anyway when he thought about the fact that he would return to his world at some point. Even though he missed playing volleyball. It would be different again if he was no longer fighting to survive and save a world.


	29. Chapter 28

Shouyou recovered for two more days while they waited to see if they got any information from the others.  
However, since they hadn’t heard anything during that time, they finally set out after Shouyou was able to move normally again.  
"Where are we going now," Atsumu asked, putting his head aside, "You wanted to find Yaku, didn’t you?"  
"I think...," Shouyou muttered a thoughtful murmur as he glanced sideways at Kenma. They had talked about what they could do and had come to the conclusion that it might be a good idea to at least listen to what Yaku knew. Whether they believed it or not, they could still decide afterwards.  
That is, their fight at that time was only interrupted and they probably had to find him and Kuroo anyway.  
"But where do we find Yaku-san," Lev muttered, tilting his head, "I mean, we could go back to Karasuno, but I’m not even sure he’s still there."  
"It’s better than not having any point where we’re supposed to go," Atsumu shrugged, grinning at Shouyou, "isn’t it?"  
Shouyou sighed, but nodded. Besides, he had learned at that time that Karasuno belonged to a neutral territory. "Sure, sounds like a starting point."  
"Here," a quiet voice reached them, and Shouyou only saw Atsumu catching a folded package.  
"Huh, what... ´Samu," he blinked at the other fox a piece away from them, who, unlike Atsumu, had grey, pointed ears.  
"Kita said you would accompany this magician here", he murmured and shrugged his shoulders, "take it as a small provision, ´Tsumu."  
"Oh, thank you," Atsumu grinned at the other one before turning to Shouyou, "we’ll definitely be prepared for that, Shouyou! No one can touch ´Samu’s cooking!"  
Shouyou blinked at him, then smiled at the other fox. "Uh ... thank you!"  
"Ah, no need to thank me," he shrugged his shoulders, waved and turned around.  
Shouyou nodded and then smiled to Atsumu and Lev. "Let’s go."  
They would be on the road for a while anyway, after they learned that they were a good distance from Karasuno. But the fox tribe where Atsumu lived was roaming the area and was in a different environment.  
"Tell me, Shouyou," Atsumu murmured incidentally, "should it be true and Yaku is not our opponent, who ... is it then?"  
Shouyou looked at him from the side, put his head to the side in a thoughtful pose, before he finally took a deep breath. "I have no idea. I thought it was Oikawa. In a way, I’m sure it is too..."  
"Yaku-san always had quite a hatred for the demons," Lev rather muttered to himself, "I don’t understand why he took Oikawa’s side."  
"Lev?," Shouyou asked in surprise, "what exactly ... do you think?"  
Lev shrugged his shoulders, waving his tail around a bit. "I only heard a few rumors. That Kuroo was banished from Nekoma when he was a child."  
"One question...," Atsumu murmured and stepped in front of them, walked a little backwards in front of them and crossed his arms behind his head, "You’re from Nekoma, aren’t you?"  
"Nekomata-san found me later, but that’s when all this had already happened," Lev replied calmly back, "I don’t really know Kuroo. Or only from Yaku-san’s story."  
" _What exactly... What exactly happened there?_ " Kenma started quietly, even if only Shouyou could hear it, but he more or less repeated the question for the others. "Can you tell us something anyway, Lev?"  
But Lev only shook his head. "Yaku-san generally didn’t really talk much about what happened. He just meant that he couldn’t understand why Kuroo was banished because of it. I think... very few people in general know what happened. Among them are Yaku-san, Kuroo, and Nekomata-san. I don’t know if anybody else does."  
"But if he hates demons so much, why is he on Kuroo’s side?" Shouyou whispered a little more to himself without really saying it louder, "I don’t understand him."  
" _Probably the easiest way to find out more is to ask Yaku,_ " Kenma said to him calmly, " _or talk to Nekomata._ "  
"We didn’t get to Nekoma without help even then, Kenma," Shouyou muttered back, for a moment forgetting that the others couldn’t understand his friend.  
"Nekoma?," Atsumu blinked at him in surprise.  
"When it comes to Nekoma... I can lead you into the forest, but I don’t think I have enough magic left to travel to the village," Lev said a little more depressed.  
Shouyou raised his head, blinking briefly. "Oh... Kenma said that Nekomata might be able to tell us more."  
Atsumu nodded a little, but then sighed. "Maybe. But if Lev can’t help us..."  
"Hinata?"  
In amazement, Shouyou looked up, saw Atsumu step aside and also turned around so that he looked at a person with upright brown ears. The other person’s clothes looked torn and a gash gaped at his left shoulder, but the blood had already dried. "What?"  
"Inuoka!?," Lev asked next to him in shock, and Shouyou recognized the other one.  
"What happened?" Shouyou asked, taking a step towards him.  
"Someone... has broken the magical barrier that leads to the village. Nekoma... is almost completely destroyed," Inuoka replied, taking a deep breath and sitting on the ground in front of them.  
"What?," Shouyou stared at the other one, "what do you mean- what happened? How did it happen?"  
"I don’t know," Inuoka replied, waving his tail in front of him, smoothing the fur on it a bit, "it happened so fast. It was chaotic. You are the hero of the sun, aren’t you? You must do something, Hinata!"  
"I-," Shouyou started, swallowed briefly, but then nodded decisively and clasped his staff, "we’ll take care of it. Lev knows the way to Nekoma. You should see that someone takes care of your injuries."  
Inuoka widened his eyes briefly, looked to the side, "Lev? What? Don’t you support Yaku?!" He flinched, pressing his hand against his injured shoulder. "Don’t worry, I’m fine."  
"A little further on, my tribe is resting," said Atsumu calmly, pointing in the direction from which they just came, "go there. They will help you."  
"Sorry Inuoka," Lev whispered and turned his head away a little, "but... I am no longer on Yaku-san’s side. And... you should go there."  
"I don’t trust you," Inuoka said, squinting one eye together and then looking at Shouyou, "but if you don’t hurry, it could be too late. So thank you." He nodded in Atsumu’s direction. "A fox tribe?"  
"We are nomads and they will help you," Atsumu nodded to him, "and don’t worry, we will take care of the rest."  
"We shouldn’t talk, we should go," Lev replied, "Nekoma is not exactly around the corner."  
"Yes," Shouyou nodded, taking one last look at Inuoka, who just nodded at him before he set off again with Atsumu and Lev. They had planned to make another detour to Nekoma anyway, only a new, more important reason had come up.  
" _What was it that broke the magical barrier to Nekoma that made it happen,_ " Kenma murmured casually as they ran along the path.  
Shouyou shrugged his shoulders on the way. He didn’t want to believe that it had anything to do with Yaku, even though it was obvious when he remembered that he came from Nekoma and was apparently one of the most powerful magicians. He was also one of those who knew where the village was.


	30. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i totally forgot that i already wrote this û.u

They were on the road for over a day almost without a break when they arrived in the forest area where the village was located.  
The first steps into the forest they didn’t really notice anything, so Shouyou sighed a little. "What if we can’t find it there?"  
"We were supposed to find it," Lev said, walking a little slower, "Inuoka said someone broke through the barrier."  
"Hmmm," Atsumu did and waved his tail in the air, "Here’s something." Shortly after, he changed into his fox form, stretched his tail in the air and gave a short growl.  
"Hinata?", a surprised voice came to them, whereupon Shouyou blinked and lowered his staff a little, stepping next to Atsumu.  
"Huh?", Shouyou asked, looking in front of him, while Atsumu growled even more violently, "... Kageyama? What- what are you doing here?"  
"Could ask you the same question," he grumbled and looked at Atsumu with a side glance, raised one eyebrow.  
"We are on our way to Nekoma," Lev replied.  
Shouyou just nodded, blinking a little more surprised. "Where is Iwaizumi? Weren’t you traveling together?"  
Kageyama flinched a little inconspicuously, but then just turned away. "Nekoma lies back there. Or rather what’s left of it."  
"What?", Shouyou and Lev said startled, while Atsumu still growled next to him.  
"Calm down, Atsumu, we’re comrades after all," Shouyou then murmured in the direction of the Fox.  
Atsumu hummed a little, barked briefly, twitched his ears.  
"Come if you want to go there," Kageyama shrugged his shoulders, and slowly walked on, "... and I’m actually looking for Iwaizumi."  
"Oh," Shouyou replied, then followed him a little more depressed to the village. When they were there, however, he only put his hands in front of his mouth. It was not what he had seen then. It was completely destroyed, and the only creatures they saw in between were demon-like creatures that either roamed around or turned to them while they bared their teeth. Where was everybody?  
Had they arrived too late?  
"You know... what happened, Kageyama?" Shouyou asked in shock.  
"The only thing I know is that something destroyed the protective barrier and then these demons invaded here," Kageyama murmured to himself, "even if it must be something else that could defeat the magician head from here."  
"Do you think... do you think it has something to do with Yaku? That this barrier has been destroyed, I mean," Shouyou murmured a little slower.  
"Do you have a better idea who did it, Chibi?" Kageyama grumbled and rolled his eyes, looking at him, "... the problem is that no one believes that Yaku is betraying them like that."  
"What," Shouyou replied in shock, "What do you mean?"  
"Yaku-san has built up trust with the inhabitants of Karasuno Town," Lev murmured somewhat more quietly, "after all, he protects this town with his magic."  
Shouyou winced, blinked and looked around a bit. "Kageyama, do you know where the others from here are? What about Nekomata?"  
"How should I know," Kageyama replied, shrugging his shoulders, "these demons are all I have seen here. Though I don’t think any of them can be defeated that easily."  
"We had hoped that... Nekomata could tell us something about what happened", Shouyou murmured back quietly, "I don’t know what to believe after fighting Kuroo and Yaku in the castle."  
"What actually tells us that we can believe you," Atsumu asked behind him after he had transformed again. His arms wrapped around Shouyou‘s belly shortly after.  
"Atsumu," Shouyou started, but only kept looking in front of him.  
"No, Shouyou," Atsumu replied and laid his head on Shouyou‘s, "these demons don’t attack us either. And Kageyama was once one of Oikawa‘s most powerful warriors."  
"Do you believe that," Kageyama replied and looked at them, raised an eyebrow, "if I wanted to, I could have finished that little mage long ago."  
"I still don’t trust you," Atsumu said with a slight growl, "Shouyou?"  
Shouyou swallowed, just looking at Kageyama while he felt himself being held further by Atsumu. "What happened after we went to Fukuroudani, Kageyama?"  
"... I don’t really know," he murmured and turned a little to the side, "I don’t know exactly where Oikawa was holding us. I guess Iwaizumi is still there somewhere as well."  
Shouyou widened his eyes. "You were captured?"  
"Which makes it all the more suspicious that you’re here now," Atsumu growled in response.  
"You are right, fox," Kageyama replied, shrugging his shoulders, "I don’t care if you believe me or not. My goal has not changed. I must destroy Oikawa."  
"Shouyou!"  
Surprised, Shouyou turned his head to the side, noticing Lev running to them with what looked like a stone. "Lev? What-?"  
"I’m sure Nekomata-san is fine," Lev said, beaming at him, "touch this."  
"Huh? That’s just--" Shouyou started, but touched the stone and stopped immediately when he felt a warmth coming over him. Shortly afterwards he blinked to a picture that appeared in front of him and showed a mountain range. "What? What is it?"  
"The ability to transmit messages by magical means," Lev said, grinning at him, "Nekomata-san must have known you would find your way here. Or... he sent Inuoka to find you. No one but a mage from Nekoma could have discovered this. You were trained by him and received a magic staff from him."  
"This mountain range," Kageyama murmured next to him and put his head to one side, "that is quite a long way from Oikawa’s demon realm."  
"Then that’s where they are," Atsumu muttered and sighed a little, "but if we want to search him, we should go there." His gaze slipped to the side.  
"What do we do," Lev asked, and Shouyou looked at him again, ignoring the look Atsumu threw at Kageyama. He didn’t know who to trust and who not to trust at the moment.  
" _I think it would be a good idea to go there,_ " Kenma said to him, " _Nekomata seems to want you to know._ "  
Shouyou nodded a little, more to Kenma before he took a deep breath. "Didn’t you say only someone from Nekoma could see it, Lev?," he asked anyway.  
"Yes," Lev nodded in response.  
"... If ... if it was Yaku, wouldn’t he know it, too?" Shouyou murmured his thoughts a little. Why would Nekomata leave them a message that could be seen directly by the other magician?  
"Oh...", Lev murmured a little more depressed, "... do you think it’s-",   
"I have no idea what to believe or think," Shouyou muttered, "but let’s go there."   
"Except that it’s not around here, I don’t know where that area is, though," Kageyama shrugged, "in case you still don’t know, I lived in Seijoh most of the time until I fled with Iwaizumi. But we had no reason to travel further away."  
"I don’t know much about it either, because I was with Yaku-san most of the time," Lev replied, grinning somewhat crookedly.  
"How good that we got around so much, huh?," Atsumu smiled as he slowly let go of Shouyou and stepped next to him, "we’ve been to almost every place and I think I know where that is."  
"It’s good that you’re with us," Shouyou said to him with relief, "then at least we know where we have to go."  
"I’m just still not sure if we can trust Kageyama," Atsumu grumbled and growled in his direction, "you’re sure you’re no longer on Oikawa’s side?"  
"You don’t have to trust me if you don’t want to," Kageyama replied, turning away, "it’s not as if I need you either."  
"Atsumu," Shouyou muttered and sighed, scratching his head, "we have the same goal, don’t we? I think we can trust him."  
"Fine, fine, whatever you say, Shouyou," Atsumu finally said waving, "I told you then that you are the leader and that’s why I trust in your decision." Then he turned to Kageyama and looked at him a little darker. "I will keep an eye on you, Kageyama, but otherwise ... I should introduce myself properly, no? My name is Miya Atsumu, from the Inarizaki Fox Tribe!"  
"Hm, do what you want," Kageyama shrugged his shoulders, patterned him more clearly.  
Shouyou grinned a little crookedly. He just hoped that everything would be okay, but they had to concentrate on reaching their next goal first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone would like to know why i don't write (or update) any haikyuu fics at the moment - i've made a post about this [here](https://feuchen.dreamwidth.org/3324.html) ^^
> 
> thank you all for reading my fics! <3
> 
> any updates to this would be on the blog or on [my twitter acc](http://twitter.com/Feuchen)


	31. Chapter 30

Shouyou literally felt the tension between them while they were traveling together to their next destination, and he didn’t really know what to do about it.  
He had felt he could trust Kageyama at the time, but so much had happened in the meantime that he didn’t really know who to trust.  
After all, he also knew that Atsumu had probably heard other things from him, but then again, you could change your goals, couldn’t you?  
" _Shouyou!_ "  
Shortly after Kenma’s voice ripped him out of his thoughts, he felt something throw him to the ground and shortly after that a black cat was on his upper body.  
"Shouyou!", Atsumu also replied startled as he looked down at him, his ears twitching a little more while Kageyama reached for one of his arrows and held his bow at the ready. Lev’s eyes narrowed as well, but he looked more like he was weighing a little more on whether he should fight. Or whatever it was that Shouyou recognized in the other’s face.  
"Still too easy, hero of the sun," he heard this too familiar voice laughing softly, "but calm down." Shortly after the sentence, Shouyou noticed how the cat jumped away from him.  
Shouyou straightened up, looked after the cat, who shortly after stopped next to Yaku again and just looked at them calmly. "... What? Yaku ...", he started, grabbing his staff a little hesitantly, while he noticed how Atsumu changed next to him and put himself in a fighting position. Kageyama also pulled back the arrow on his bow a little.  
"I am not here to fight, hero of the sun," Yaku said calmly and crossed his arms in front of him, glanced briefly at his companions before turning his gaze back to Shouyou, "You do want to talk."  
"Yaku-san, what... was it you who destroyed the magical barrier to Nekoma," Lev asked before anyone else could say anything. Shouyou swallowed when he heard that. They all suspected just that. After all, who else could it be?  
"Would you think I would go so far as to let the Demons invade my hometown?" Yaku replied and raised an eyebrow a little, "I’m sure Nekomata knows who it was. If you visit him, you will know."  
"But... what," Shouyou began, swallowing something, "who else could it be that knows where Nekoma is and is strong enough?"  
"Listen, Hinata," Yaku replied and took a deep breath, "if I told you what I know, would you believe me?"  
Shouyou looked at him for a longer moment, noticing how Atsumu and Kageyama were still in fighting position, even though they probably knew that Yaku could just stop them. Lev still seemed unsure whether he should prepare for a fight or not.  
Slowly, Shouyou looked back at the sorcerer. "I... I don’t know."  
"Then there’s no point in telling you anything because you wouldn’t believe me," Yaku said and shrugged his shoulders, "... you will later-"  
"Wait!" Shouyou finally interrupted him anyway, "I... I don’t know what to believe and what not to believe anymore. It is all ... so irritating. I’d like to know what you know so I can decide afterwards." That was, after all, what Kenma had advised him. That they should at least hear what Yaku wanted to tell them.  
A little more surprised, Yaku looked at him before he finally took a deep breath and took his cat in his arms. "I see," he murmured a little to himself, "all right, I’ll tell you what I know." He sat down on the floor and took a quick look to the side. "How about you calm down too?"  
Shouyou looked to the side and nodded calmly at Atsumu and Kageyama, settling on the floor opposite Yaku. "It’s better not to fight unnecessarily."  
Lev sighed first, settling down next to him while Atsumu lay halfway down on Shouyous lap shortly after, his tail waved in front of him while his ears remained erect. Kageyama nodded shortly thereafter and put his bow and arrow down beside him while he sat down as well.  
"Can you ... tell us a little more about your past," Shouyou asked a little quieter.  
"Hmm... It must have started with this ...", Yaku murmured and stroked his cat’s fur, "when Kuroo’s demon powers awoke. It would have been less tragic if he hadn’t almost killed one of us back then. That was the reason why Nekomata-sensei had to banish him."  
Shouyou swallowed a little more, but felt Yaku’s gaze not really change, as if he didn’t show any emotion towards it. Or wanted to show. "What... who ..."  
"We were training together when it happened," Yaku replied, without finishing his speech, "Tetsu ... resisted when he realized it. He wouldn’t have killed me, but no one could know that."  
"What?" Lev finally asked, startled, "You- Yaku-san?"  
"We were young and my skills were far from mature enough to defeat a demon," Yaku replied with a calm smile, "nobody knows what happened back then. Nobody except Kuroo, Nekomata-sensei and me. All the others have only heard stories ... or only know that Kuroo was banished."  
"Is that why you joined him?" Shouyou asked and swallowed a little more, "is that why you’re on Kuroo’s side?"  
"Not quite," Yaku shook his head, "I trained back then to become stronger, to find Kuroo. Even though everyone thought he was one of those demons who wanted to destroy this world, I didn’t want to believe it. But everyone was also convinced that I was lucky to have survived that attack, even though ... yes, I’m sure Tetsu fought against killing me. Since I was strong enough, I stayed away from Nekoma and searched for information in Karasuno Town. That was the very reason why I started protecting this town in the first place."  
"Then you really wanted to protect the city," Lev murmured to himself a little quieter.  
"First it was a good point to get information about the demon realm, then I started to protect this city, finally it became a base ...", Yaku muttered to himself, stroked his cat a little bit again, "it was ... about two years after I left Nekoma, that I heard about Kenma’s plan to find Kuroo."  
"Kenma?," Shouyou asked confusedly, "what has...?"  
"There is another legend, Hinata," Yaku said, interrupting him like this, narrowing his eyes a little more, " _the hero from another world who defeats the demon king will give you the power to rule this world._ Kenma intended to do that. No one but Kuroo knew anything about it and I know I couldn’t believe him when he told me, but ..." he stopped for a moment and looked a little lost in thought at the sky above him, "... I probably wouldn’t have believed anyone else who told me this, but Kuroo knows Kenma best. I mean, Kenma is a part of us. After all, he hasn’t even been banished because he never had anything like demonic powers, but..."  
"Why would Kenma plan such a thing? Why- why would he plan such a thing?!" Shouyou asked a little more horrified, clenching his hands into fists. How could he believe that this magician had such plans after he had helped him so much?  
"Neither of Kuroo and Kenma come directly from Nekoma," Yaku said calmly in response, "I don’t know exactly what connects them, but we assume that Kenma has some powers within him that no one suspects."  
"That doesn’t explain anything ...", Shouyou whispered, looking in front of him and at Atsumu’s Fox Form, "why should that explain anything? Why would Kenma still be a danger to you when he... is dead?"  
"We thought so too," Kuroo answered him shortly afterwards, before he stepped behind the sorcerer and let himself fall to the ground, "we thought we had finished it."  
"But Kenma was able to do something before we killed him," Yaku said and sighed, "he brought you and your friend into this world. He wants you to defeat Oikawa so that he can control you afterwards. His spirit still exists. He only needs someone who physically exists for him."  
"I don’t believe that," Shouyou shook his head, looked down again and noticed that Atsumu had raised his head a little, "you’re telling me that it’s all a lie and I’ve been tricked?"  
Yaku shrugged, looking at him with a serious look. "You said you wanted to decide if you believed me after hearing my story. It’s up to you, Hinata."  
"I know ...", Shouyou muttered to himself, but he knew even less what he should believe or whom he should trust now, "and what should I do now? What exactly must I do to return?"  
"Your task is still clear, but you should stop trusting Kenma," Kuroo replied calmly, "besides, Oikawa has a crystal that can bring you back."  
"What?," Shouyou blinked and stared at the other now, noticing Kuroo grinning at him, "why-?"  
"That’s the thing you have to do," Yaku said calmly, smiling a little, even though he shook his head a little at the same time, "there is a magic crystal that can make you travel to another world. Oikawa possesses it. If you defeat him, you must get there before Kenma can come to take control of you."  
"So it’s a game of time who’s faster," Kageyama murmured next to him, grinning in Shouyou’s direction, "the more you should understand that Oikawa is my opponent and your only concern is to return."  
Shouyou turned his head towards him, fixed the eyes of the other before he slowly nodded. Maybe Kageyama was right. Maybe he should really only care about coming home. Back to his own world.  
"As I said, it’s up to you whether you believe me or not," Yaku finally shrugged his shoulders, stood up and grabbed his magic wand, "next time we meet, we will be enemies again, hero of the sun."  
"See you, Chibi-chan!", Kuroo grinned at him once more before he disappeared from them together with Yaku through the magic of the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hopefully came back to writing at this by the next year? >//<

**Author's Note:**

> you could find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/feuchen) ^-^


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